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The Writer

A MONTHLY MAGAZINE
FOR LITERARY WORKERS

VOLUME VII

JANUARY -DECEMBER, 1894

BOSTON :

THE WRITER PUBLISHING COMPANY

282 WASHINGTON STREET

1894

(Copyright, 1895, by Wiluam H. Hills. All Rights Rbsbrvbd.]

INDEX.

Adams, Oku Fay, on Holmei, i6i

AdveniK, Shall Wriun, Wady, loi

Aficcuilon Id Uienlun, aiiiAolm,

AKregatiooi of Unlit, Day, 51

AM™, K. M., Kighu of Authon, 19

Amaleui frcn Astodilion, National, Johnian, iSj

Applelon E. T„ Rejeclcd MSS., ii

AidKClaveidcD, SlDCklan{r), lof

Asiatic Biteits, Oplic ( i ), 171

Al Bolh Enda of ttc Une. Halifax, ii;

Authot, UnkDown, Ci»riai,Si

Author'g CoDfeuion, Dinow lo, 44

Cteditlo, i4i Melhodalij. ig/Crh'PaylT^iiy; Righli|

Aulfaontd^, Plnl QuaMcalion, Whlu, i;
Baby^s KiDedoni, Cox(r), 30
Bacon's Cipner Story, Owco (r), jg, 01, 130
Ballads, Old Kogluh. Gummeie (r), 139

BatEi,

uljoe

■n Holm'

ILoveYon, Mack jr), 171,

Bell, M. B.,Coinniiu9, Snap, and!
Bcmon, Joel, on Holmo, 16s
Beikihirc, Picluruque ( r ), iii
Birthday, 44

Book-covertas Noti-booka, Wtit, 14
Book-publiibing, Bu>in«i Side of, •<

Brother Againit Urolhi

, 6p.il

Irolher, Optic (r), 157
Williami, Cardwill. B4

Camp-fire MuBinn, Gray (r >, S9
Cardwill, M. E., on A. W. Broiliertoo, 84
Catalogue, A. L. A (r),s8
CiIharTae Fine, Rulh^^(r). 14
ChaiaMtrs in novels, 1061 Namei of. Hoke, 17
ChaieofSt. Caitin, Calherwoad(r), 171
Child. M, E., Short Sloiy, no

i, Flnl Three Vearaof, Perei ( i), 7j
' Lileraluie, Cole, 39

fi., ASeculion In Lilenlure, .

ichuyler, ris
•nUfeoKr), 109

(Chopin, Kat

Eggiciton, Edward, on Holmei, 161
English Literature, Oliphanl (r), 10
Etdiing, Birth of the, Vincent, si

Evangeline'! Coui

"^ dran. Vr 1 1

Expenmenul No'

Fabie for Critic..

Lowell tr). >,

Fair Wook of, Bancroft ( t), 4(. 7(

, 111,116.189; Humoi

HawtbarDe<i

Fawcell, Edgar, on Holmei. 166

Fed Bad, ,06

Ficlion, Herediti

' of, 5heffey-Pe

Simonda ( r).
FWier, Sidney 6.,

.8?

, on Owen Wlalei

■I 1

Florid. Sketch Be

«k,Torrey(r), ,

Flower of Forgive

:ne.., SteeUr),

ijS

K:s;?'S"j

Xi(h:"»

Fooie and Hook,

Bon-MoU of, Jertold { r ). m

Foreip Phr^.,

.68, 169

Fo«, Sam Waller

, Poemi(r).i70

KSMf:

^^°^hi(hf,o^

Garland, HamUn,

Gtrmao for Amei

ican., MayirCr:

1, Mi First Course, H

Ghostt. 'Literary.

?o^7i[.-nkno.

Gib«n A. H "k

GUman. N. P., or

1 Molmei, 164

Good Style, Holt

(.)..o9

Gtaham,A.R.,o

D Holmei, iSy

Gnu... A. Y„ Stoi

lies. Why End H

appily. 6

Haire, k. C, LivinibT the Fen. ■

Hale, Edward Ev

erett, on Holmes

,169.

HaJe. A. M., on f

Halifa,, Jean, At

'BothErdi'olih,

= Line, ,7

Harraden, Bealrii

:e, 78; Books (r

). j8. 91

Hawkiti., A, H..

n. Humors of the

Fair<r),.i

Heciick. Bertha F., Mental Dyipepsia. 114

Hills, William H., Typewrllinz^S., «>

Hilltop Summer, Keith (> J, 171

His Vanished Star. Craddock (r),is7

Hobbe..J.O,.78

Hoke, H. M., Character Namesin Fiction, 177; Lin

Holme., O. W.'.'feeath, 78 ; Jerrold ( r ), €7 ; TrUiuu

168, rSj. 187
Howard, F. M , Keeping Track of MSS., 17S

1, Editorial, Dennis, SS
lee Waler, Icecream, 11

Correctness, Snap, and Succeti
Coiring, E. K., Playwriling, 11
Cox, R. C,IUu>tralioo,9S. 11
Critic, Stein le, 148

roline H., on Holmes, 16;
Persia E., Author's Conies^

[gregations of Uniu. ti

ichy C r 1

Day, Beth. Aggregate

Delectable Duchy (r 1,58
Denison. Mary A.. Dialecl. s, ;);

Dennis,")^.^., Ediio^l I, SB
Denniion, W. G., Illustrator, Dsl
Dialed, Oiisholm, 49; Denlaon,
Diclatoia, School for, Rhys, i
Dorr, Julia C.R.,(- "-'— '

mnscript Market, ij
I and Publishers, jj

Dygpep«a, Menial, Heirick, 114

Ediiois, Ate Ther ID Blame? While, 41 : IitiMtsd. Kearney,
IS and Pvbllilien, Denison. j{

Joumaliin'siiwiolo, S
Katherine Lauderdale, Ci
Kearney, K.,IrTluledE.
Kellogg, E. L„ Uk of O
King, Charles, on Holme

Kmwn lo"'nkno»S,'Gi'l;
Lamb and JeiToid, Bon-t
Letters, P^ (or,, 69;

Public, ¥tetclier(r}, 1.

THE WRITER.

Literary Beginner's Experience, Loes, 34
Literary Swindler's Confession, 152, 153
Literature for Art's Sake, Hoke, 23
Xittle Miss Faith, Le Baron (r), 157
Living by the Pen, Haire, 182
Xoes, J. M., Literary Bq^ner's Experience, 24
Lourdes, Zola ( r), 171

Lvon-Irons. A. L., contributions, 59, 60
Jaabie, Hamilton W., on Holmes, 167
Magazine Articles, Preserving, 123
Magazine File, Wady, 140
Magdalena, 72, 120

Manning, J. W., Why Stories End Happily, 7
Manuscripts, Five Hundred Places to Sell, Reeve (r), 121;

Keepmg Track of, Howard, 178; Market for. Day, 132 ;

Paper, Saving, 31 ; Placing, Shore, 150; Rejected, 12,17,

10,29; Returning, 169; Rolled, 92 ; Sendmg to several

points, II
Marcella. Ward ( r ), 137
Meaningless, Cult of the, Morgan, 99
Merriman, Henry Seton, 80
Miller, Joaquin, on Holmes, 183
Mitchell, Donald G., on Holmes, 164
Mollie Miller, Merriman (r), 172
Morgan, Forrest, Cult of the Meaninc;less, 99
Morley, M. M., Literary Ghosts, 71
Mother, Will, and I, Coit ( r), 139
Moulton, Louise Clundler, on Holmes, 183
Mucilage, Isham, 158

My Summer in a Mormon Village, Merriman ( r ), 157
Names in Fiction, Hoke, '177
Necrolognr^ 80, 96^ 112, 128, 144, 160, 176, 192
Nervous Exhaustion, Beard ( r ), 171
New York, King's Handbook (r ), 29
Newspaper Annual ( r), 156 ; Directory (r), 107
Newspaper English, Scott, 18; Edited, 107, 120, 135, 154, 156,

i87

Nom de Plume, 90

None, with plural verb, 135 ; for no other, 187

Note-book, Chatelaine, 46

Note*heads for Authors, 46

Novel, Crawford ( r ), 136; Zola ( r), 73

-Oblieed to have asked, 90

OttoTengui, Rodrigues, Coles, 97

Our Village, Mitford ( r ), 59

Page, Thomas Nelson, on Holmes, 183

Palmer ,C. S., Early Drama, 51

Paper, BigSheetof, 42 ; for MSS., Saving, 60, 73

Parables, Three Literary, Wilkie, 50

Paragraphs in MS., 43

-Paris Note-book, Vandam ( r ), 109

Paste, 122

Pearl of India, Ballou ( r ), 171

Peckj Samuel Mintum, on Holmes, 163

Penals, Sharpening, 60

Periodicals, Directory of ( r ), 12; Literary Articles in, 15, 31,
etc.

Phonograph, 104

Photographic Mosaics, Wilson ( r), 92

Photography, Amateur, Adams (r), 45; Annual of (r), 44,
189; in copying, 189; Cyclopaedic, Wilson (r), 139; In-
doors and out. Black ( r ), 44 ; At Night, Duchodiois ( r ), 45

Pigeon-hole Extension, 75

Playwritin^, Cowing, iij. See also Drama.

Pool, Mana Louise, Hale, 180

Presswork, Kelley (r ), 188

Princess of Thule, Black (r), 13

Printing, Vest-pocket Manual (r), 188

Prizes, 54. 62, 9?, 112, 126, 144, 160, 175, 176, 193

Proctor, Edna Dean, on Holmes, 183

Pseudonym, 4j

Quotations, Dictionary, Wood ( r ), 90 ; Familiar, Bartlett ( r ), 90

Rachel Stanwood, Morse ( r ), 13

Reader, MS., Essentials, Webb, 20

Reading, Hint on, no

Rejection Slips, Cox, 71

Reporting, Court, Tnome ( r ), 138

Rhetoric, Foundations of. Hill ( r ), 56

Rhetorical Poor, Plea for, Alden, 38

Rhys, Meredith, School for Dictators, i

Ricnard Escott, Cooper (r), 13

Rilev, James Whitcomb, Armazindy ( r ), 170

Rocne, James Jeffrey, on Holmes, 164

Rolls, To remove enclosures from, 30

Romance of a Schoolboy, Denison ( r ), 13

Romantic Professions, James (x), 108

Rotmd the Red Lamp, Doyle (r), 188

Rouse, A.. Literary Scrap-book, 5

Sabbath Homes, Adler ( r ), 30

Sanborn, Frank B., on Holmes, 161

Sarpi, Fra Paoli, Robertson ( r ), 137

Scarboro, Jed, Huddle Your ideas, 9

Schuler, H. A .Recent Words, 21

Schuyler, W., Chopin, 115

Scott, W., Newspaper English, 18

Scrap-book, Literary, Rouse, 5

Search for Andrew Field, Tomlinson (r ), 138

Sheffey- Peters, M., Hereditv of Fiction, 147

Shelley and Vegetarianism, west, 35

Sherlock Holmes, Doyle ( r ), 108

Ships That Pass in the Nisht, Harraden ( r ), 58

Shore, Robert, Placing MSS., 150

Siberian Exiles, Nieritz ( r ), 75

Sidney, Margaret, on Holmes, 163

Sirs, Only Seventeen, Townsend ( r ), 172

Slav and Moslem, Brodhead ( r ), 156

Smith, S. F., on Holmes, 163

Soul from Pudge's Comer, O'Donnell ( r ), 13

Stage, Studies. Matthews ( r ), 57

Stanton, Frank L.^ on Holmes, 163

Steinle, M. A., Cntic, 148

Stories, Other, Johnston, 33 ; Why End Happily, 6

Story of a Bad Boy, Aldrich ( r ), 188

Story of Maigrddel, Meldrum (r), 158

Story, Short, Child, 129

Switzerland, McCracken (r), 130

Synonyms, Bechtel ( r ), 75 ; Craob ( r ), 57

Tablet Covers for MSS., 14, 59

Telegraph Tolls, Saving, 14

Tell Me, Ye WingM Winds, 155

Tennyson, Brooke (r), 138

Thompson, Francis, 79

Three Boys on Electrical Boat, Trowbridge ( r ), 188

Timely articles, 185

Title, changing, 185

To-morrow is, or will be, 72

Torn pa^es mended, 76

Translations, 55, 160

Trilby, DuMaurier (r), 149, 171

Trowbridge, J. T., on Holmes, 167

True, E. C., on Trilby, 149

Two Bites at a Cherry, Aldrich (r), 14

Two-Legfged Wolf, Karazin ( r ), 157

Typewriter Backing Sheet, 93

Typewriter Letters and Signatures, 70

Typewriting MSS., Rules for, Hills, 82

Umbrella Mender, Harraden ( r ), 109

U. S. History, Thomas ( r ), 170

Vansant, W. M., Conversation in Novels, 9

Vincent, W. D.. Birth of the Etching, 53

Vocabulary, Enlarging, 15

Wady, C. S., Magazine File, 140; Shall Writers Advertise, 106

War of Independence, Fiske (r), 109

Ward, Elizabeth Stuart Phelps, on Holmes, 183

Warman, E. D., Illustration, 146

Warner, Charles Dudley, on Holmes, 161

We, editorial, 186

Webb, E. S., MS. Reader, 20

Wee Lucy-May (r), 172

West, Kenyon, 32 ; Book-covers as note-books, 140 ; Shelley

and Vegetarianism, 35
Western, W. H., Filing Clippings, 145
White, E. L., Authorship, 25 ; Are Edit
White Crown, Ward (r), 157
Widow, Leaves a, 134
Wilcox, Ella Wheeler, on Holmes, 167
WUkie, H. C, Three Literary Parables, 50
Winter, William, Shakespeare's England, etc. (r), 12
Wister, Owen, Fisher on, 130
Wolff, J., Writer's Cramp, 65, 71
Woman Suffrage, Jacobin r), 122
Woodward, B. W., contribution, 28
Words, Bryant List, 154; Recent, Schuler, 21; Wellesley

List, 119
Writer. New, Chance for, 132
Writer's Correspondence, Isham, 151
Writer's Cramp, Wolf, 65, 71
Writer's Handbook ( r ), 107
Writer's Signature, 155
You-Uns, Jenwyl, 27

Editors to Blame, 41

The writer.

Literary Beginner's Experience, Loes, 24

Literary Swindler's Confession, 153, 153

Literature for Art's Sake, Hoke, 23

Xittle Miss Faith, Le Baron (r), 157

Living by the Pen, Haire, i8a

Loes, J. M., Literary Bi^nner's Experience, 24

Lourdes, Zola ( r), 171

Love in Idleness, Crawford ( r ), 170

Lover's Lexicon, Greenwooo^ ( r ), 45

Xvon-Irons. A. L., contributions, 59, 60

Jaabie, Hamilton W., on Holmes, 167

Magazine Articles, Preserving, 123

Magazine File, Wady, 140

Maigdalena, 72, 120

Manning^, J. W., Why Stories End Happily, 7

Manuscripts, Five Hundred Places to Sell, Reeve (r), 121;
Keeping Track of, Howard, 178; Market for. Day, 132 ;
Paper, Saving, 31 ; Placing, Shore, 150; Rejected, 12, 17,
10,29; Returning, 169; Rolled, 92; Sending to several
points, II

-Marcella. Ward ( r ), 137

Meaningless, Cult of the, Morgan, 99

Merriman, Henry Seton, 80

Miller, Joaquin, on Holmes, 183

Mitchell, Donald G., on Holmes, 164

Mollie Miller, Merriman (r), 172

Morsan, Forrest, Cult of the Meaningless, 99

Morley, M. M., Literary Ghosts, 71

Mother, Will, and I, Coit ( r), 139

Moulton, Louise Chandler, on Holmes, 183

Mucilage, I sham, 158

My Summer in a Mormon Village, Merriman ( r ), 157

Names in Fiction, Hoke, 177

Necrolog^r, 80, 96^ 112, 128, 144, 160, 176, 192

Nervous Exhaustion, Beard (r), 171

New York, King's Handbook (r ), 29

Newspaper Annual ( r), 156 ; Directory (r), 107

Newspaper English, Scott, 18; Edited, 107, 120, 135, i54> 156,
187

Nom de Plume, go

None, with plural verb, 135 ; for no other, 187

Notebook, Chatelaine, 46

Note*heads for Authors, 46

Novel, Crawford (r), 136; Zola (r), 73

-Oblieed to have asked, 90

OttoTeneui, Rodrigues, Coles, 97

• Our Village, Mitford ( r ), 59

Page, Thomas Nelson, on Holmes, 183

Palmer, C. S., Early Drama, 51

Paper. BigSheetof, 42 ; for MSS., Saving, 60, 73

Parables, Three Literary, Wilkie, 50

Paragraphs in MS., 43

Paris Note-book, Vandam ( r ), 109

Paste, 122

Pearl of India, Ballon ( r ), 171

Peckj Samuel Mintum, on Holmes, 163

Penals, Sharpening, 60

Periodicals, Directory of (r), 12 ; Literary Articles in, 15, 31,
etc.

Phonograph, 104

Photographic Mosaics, Wilson (r). 92

Photography, Amateur, Adams (r), 45; Annual of (r), 44,
i^; in copying, 189 ; Cyclopaedic, Wilson (r), 139; In-
doors and out, Black ( r ), 44 ; At Night, Ducho<^is ( r ), 45

Pigeon-hole Extension, 75

Play writing, Cowing, 1 tx. See also Drama.

Pool, Mana Louise. Hale, 180

Presswork, Kelley ( r ), 188

Princess of Thule, Black (r), 13

Printing, Vest-pocket Manusil ( r), 188

Prizes, 54. 6a, 9?, 112, 126, 144, i6o, 175, 176, 19a

Proctor, Edna Dean, on Holmes, 183

Pseudonym, 4j

Quotations, Dictionary, Wood ( r ), 90 ; Familiar, Bartlett ( r ), 90

Rachel Stanwood, Morse (t). 13

Reader, MS., Essentials, Webb, 20

Reading, Hint on, no

Rejection Slips, Cox. 71

Reporting. Court, Thome ( r ), 138

Rhetoric, Foundations of. Hill ( r ), 56

Rhetorical Poor, Plea for, Alden, 38

Rhys, Meredith, School for Dictators, i

Richard Escott, Cooper (r), 13

Rilev, James Whitcemb, Armazindy ( r ), 170

Rocne, James Jeffrey, on Holmes, 164

Rolls, To remove enclosures from, 30

Romance of a Schoolboy, Denison ( r ), 13

Romantic Professions, James (r). 108

Round the Red Lamp, Doyle (r;, 188

Rouse, A., Literary Scrap-book, 5

Sabbath Homes, Adler ( r ), 30

Sanborn, Frank B., on Holmes, 161

Sarpi, Fra Paoli, Robertson ( r ), 137

Scarboro, Jed, Huddle Your Ideau, 9

Schuler, H. A .Recent Words, 21

Schuyler, W., Chopin, 115

Scott, W., Newspaper English, 18

Scrap-book, Literai^j Rouse, 5

Seaux;h for Andrew Field, Tomlinson ( r ), 138

Sheffey-Petert, M., Hereditv of Fiction, 147

Shelley and Vegetarianism, West, 35

Sherlock Holmes, Doyle ( r ), 108

Ships That Pass in the Nisht, Harraden ( r ), 58

Shore, Robert, Placing MSS., 150

Siberian Exiles, Nieritz ( r ), 75

Sidney, Margaret, on Holmes, 163

Sirs, Only Seventeen, Townsend (r), 172

Slav and Moslem, Brodhead ( r ), 156

Smith, S. F., on Holmes, 163

Soul from Pudge's Comer, O'Donnell (r), 13

Stage, Studies. Matthews ( r ), 57

Stanton, Frank L.. on Holmes, 163

Steinle, M. A., Critic, 148

Stories, Other, Johnston, 33 ; Why End Happily, 6

Story of a Bad Boy, Aldrich ( r ), 188

Story of Maigrddel, Meldmm (r), 158

Story, Short, Child, 129

Switzerland, McCracken ( r ), 130

Synonyms, Bechtel ( r ), 75 *, Craob ( r ), 57

Tablet Covers for MSS., 14, 59

Telegraph Tolls, Saving, 14

Tell Me, Ye WingM Winds, 155

Tennyson, Brooke (r), 138

Thompson, Francis, 79

Three Boys on Electrical Boat, Trowbridge ( r ), 188

Timely articles, 185

Title, changing, 18^

To-morrow is, or will be, 72

Torn pa^es mended, 76

Translations, 55, 160

Trilby, DuMaurier (r), 149, 171

Trowbridge, J. T., on Holmes, 167

Troe, E. C, on Trilby, 149

Two Bites at a Cherry, Aldrich (r), 14

Two-Legged Wolf, iGrazin ( r ), 157

Typewriter Backing Sheet, 93

Typewriter Letters and Signatures, 70

Typewriting MSS., Rules for. Hills, 82

Umbrella Mender, Harraden (r), 109

U. S. History, Thomas ( r ), 170

Vansant, W. M., Conversation in Novels, 9

Vincent, W. D.. Birth of the Etching, 53

Vocabulary, Enlarging, 15

Wady, C. S., Magazine File, 140; Shall Writers Advertise, 106

War of Independence, Fiske (r), 109

Ward, Elizabeth Stuart Phelps, on Holmes, 183

Warman, E. D., Illustration, 146

Warner, Charles Dudley, on Holmes, 161

We, editorial, 186

Webb, E. S.. MS. Reader, 20

Wee Lucy-May (r), 172

West, Kenyon, 32 ; Book-covers as note-books, 140 ; Shelley

and Vegetarianism, 35
Western, W. H., Filing Clippings, 145
White, E. L., Authorship, 25 ; Are Editors to Blame, 41
White Crown, Ward (r), 157
Widow, Leaves a, 134
Wilcox, Ella Wheeler, on Holmes, 167
WUkie, H. C, Three Literary Parables, 50
Winter, William, Shakespeare's England, etc. (r), 12
Wister, Owen, F'isher on, 130
Wolff, J.. Writer's Cramp, 65, 7«
Woman Suffrage. Jacobi(r), 122
Woodward, B. W.. contribution, 28
Words, Bryant List, 154; Recent, Schuler, 21; Wellesley

List, 119
Writer. New, Chance for, 132
Writer's Correspondence, Isham, 151
Writer's Cramp, Wolf, 65, 71
Writer's Handbook ( r ), 107
Writer's Signature, 155
You-Uns, Jenwyl, 27

The

Writer:

A MONTHLY MAGAZINE TO INTEREST AND HELP ALL LITERARY WORKERS.

Vol. VIL

BOSTON, JANUARY, 1894.

No. I.

Entered at the Boston Post-office as second-class mail matter, stenographers are given a thorough training in

■ ~~ commercial dictation. All the instnictors are

CONTENTS: fagb . j mi • 'ji ^ ^i.

expert amanuenses, and will rigidly correct the

A School for Dictators. Meredith Rhys i ^ r*.j *

o TA jur A T^ ' . errors of students.

Saturated with Dialkct. Mary A. Denuon. ... 2

Thb Homk of Mrs. Mary A. Dbnison. Margaret "In practising dictation no pupil will be

Sullivan Burke 3 allowed to speak in a whisper. All words must

Affkctatiom IK Literature ivmiam B. Chishoim. 4 ^e spoken loud enough to be heard three feet

A Literary Scrap-book. AdelauU Rouse 5 '^ . **

Why Must All Stories End Happily ? away, Since few Stenographers are smart enough

L— They Do. Alice YaUs Grant 6 to take down what they do not hear. On the

n. -They Don't. Jessie iviison Manning. • • 7 other hand, the habit of bawHng is discouraged.

°'l^^udng'conveniation,' 8- Complete Set. of The To dictate in a loud, didactic Style may impress

' Writer, 8— Order in the Sanctum, 9 — The Thirteen a Casual visitor with yOUr importance, but, aS a

Superstition in Uterature 9 rule, dictating to the gallery is held to be bad

Huddle Your Ideas. Jed Scarboro 9 ^ ^

taste

How Novelists Introduce Conversation. IVilbur M. i.«wwv..

Vansant, 9 " Smoking is allowed while dictating, but the

An Author's Confession. Persis E. Darrow. ... 10 cigar must be removed from the lips when the

?HrSAF Basket." .' WW '. \ n dictator is actually speaking.

Book Reviews la " Special attention is given to correcting the

Helpful Hints and Suggestions. 14 er-er habit in dictators. No dictator will be

Tablet Covers for Man«.cripi.,i4-A Literary Incubator, graduated from this SChool who USeS €r morC

14 —' Learning to Illustrate, 14 — Savmg Telegraph "

tolls, 14 — Enlarging One's Vocabulary 15 than oncc in every five words. It is expected

Literary Articles in Periodicals 15 that SOme will do better than this.

News and Notes 16 u S^ttd in dictation is carefully cultivated,

A SCHOOL FOR DICTATORS. ^^"^ ^'1^'^:^ ^^^f""^ ^''\}^^'' T^^'V",

words a minute will receive the certificate of

Why won't some one start a school for die- the school. The more speed, the less haste is

tators — not political dictators, of course, but necessary to get through with a large mail ; and

the commercial article ; the men who employ the danger of putting the stenographer to sleep

stenographers ? by too-slow dictation is a point that should not

Such a school would fill a real, long-felt want, be overlooked,
and there might then be less contrast between ** For practice, actual business letters are

the confused, disjointed production that many a griven to pupils to answer. It is expected that

capable stenographer " takes down " and the these letters shall be read before answers to

smooth, correct business document that he "tran- them are dictated. The habit of dictating a

scribes " from his notes. The idea is hereby reply to a letter while reading it is discouraged,

presented to any business college in the country as not being conducive to a polished style and

that will adopt it, and a few hints for the pro- a methodical arrangement of the matter,
spectus are thrown in, as follows : — " Courses in elementary grammar and the

" At this school persons intending to employ rudiments of the English language are given,

The Writer.

and all the pupils are expected to acquire
enough of these branches so that they will use
a verb in the plural with a plural subject, and
vice versa.

** Special attention and individual instruction
giyen to pupils who show a tendency to confuse
* shall ' and • will.' "

Washington, D. C Meredith Rhys,

SATURATED WITH DIALECT.

*' Will you uns please pass roe the bread?"

I looked up in unfeigned astonishment. Was
that Aunt Martha De Land, with her cororoand
of classical English, her dignity, and gravity —
was it really possible ?

" For pity's sake. Aunt Martha ! " I broke out,
** what does it mean ? "

*'It simply means pass the bread," was the
smiling rejoinder. " Why, what did I say that
you look so horrified 1 "

" What I have not heard for over thirty years,
and that when I was on Uncle Jasper's planta-
tion down in Louisiana," I made reply.

** That was befoh de wah," said my classical
aunt.

I looked at her half stupidly, I was so much
amazed.

'' My dear, you must not mind it" she went
on to say. *' I have been reading dialect stories.
You know it should be, and doubtless is, the
aim of our first-class magazines to teach their
great world of readers the best enunciation
(excuse the size of the word) of the English
language, but I am steeped in slang from my
brain to my finger-tips, perhaps I should say
in dialect, only it is so hard to choose between
them, I mean the dialects. One gets confused
between Tennessee, Louisiana, and Texas, they
are all so different, you know.

•' One of our best, perhaps in some respects
§ke best, magazines has in its last number no
less than three dialect stories, and good ones,
too. Well, it's all right, of course. I do like to
puzzle them out, though sometimes I long in the
narration for the sweet, simple English of Irv-
ing, the straightforward, robust style of Scott.
Let me see if 1 can remember a sentence in one

of the stories that haunts me. O, yes ; it was
written in a description of the search of a young
girl through a deserted house. Here it is : —

"'Suddenly it [the gloom] was penetrated
by a milky white glimmer, a glimmer duplicated
at equidistant points, each fsuling as its succes-
sor sprang into brilliance.'

** And here is another : —

*' * She shielded the feeble flicker with her
hand, her white-hooded head gleamed as with
an aureole as the divergent ra3r8 rested on the
opaque mists.'

** There ! there's grandeur of description and
illustration for you !

* Well, my son, you are late," my critical aunt
went on, as a stalwart young roan entered.

*'Yas, mother. I b'lieve I'mfeelin' poly this
mornin'," he made answer.

** What, George ! you've been reading dialect
stories, too ! " she said, laughing.

He opened his bright eyes wider.

* How in the world did you know?" he
asked.

** By your dialect, my son, which is purely
Tennesseean," she answered.

" Well, you're right. I sat up till twelve read-
ing one of those dialect yams. I like 'em, too,
only it's a dismal fact that I feel like letting go
all the niceties of grammar and rhetoric for a
week afterward. How utterly refreshing it
must be to get out of the common routine, and
say *naw' for no, and *gyard ' for good, and
* critter ' for creature, and • gell ' for girl, or
*giurl,' and *hyar* for here, and to call things
just as they suggest themselves to the untrained
mind ! What a delightfully lazy existence —
phonetically speaking — those fellows must

The Writer.

9iave ! There's lots of alliteration, too. Do
you remember in one story the * tiny, tawney,
tinted owl,' the 'stare of stolid surprise,' and
^the cry that set the silence to shuddering'?
All in two short sentences, and plenty more in
the long ones. It shows that the writer studies
ior effects ; if not, what is she writing for, I
:should like to know ?

"Hyar, M'ria!" he called to the wide-eyed

maid, " a cup of cawfy 'n' a small sample o' that
salmon settin' on the salva, shinin' so "

"Silly boy!" exclaimed his mother, as the
laugh went 'round, and he came to a stop for
want of a final word.

"I know it; but remember, my dearest
* maw,' I am saturated with dialect"

Afary A, Denison,

Washington, D. C.

THE HOME OF MRS. MARY A. DENISON.

Mrs. Denison, the author of " That Husband
of Mine," is a woman of multi-genius and many
attractions. She is a sweet, gentle woman of
middle age, with a face glorified into positive
beauty by its expresion alone, although it is far
from lacking the natural elements of beauty,
with the softest complexion, and a fluffy cloud
of natural curls, very lightly sprinkled with gray.
In mental gifts she is even above the average.
She is not only one of our best novelists, hav-
ing written more stories than twice the years of
lier life, — stories always pure and exalted in
tone, books that can be introduced at the fire-
side, — but she is, also, the author of some of
the leading juvenile work. She was the " back-
bone " at one time of the Youth's Companion^
having done more, perhaps, than any other of
its many brilliant contributors to build it up
•during its early struggles, so that to the public
her name became synonymous with that of the
paper, in fact.

Mrs. Denison is an artist, also, of no mean
ability, though she has little 'time to devote to
artistic work. She is musical, too, and varies
her story writing with songs, both written and
•composed by herself. She is a practical musi-
cian, also, knowing the violin as well as the
piano; and as her younger sister, Mrs. Lizzie
Eaton, plays on almost every instrument extant,
an evening visit to the sisters is like attending a
musicale.

In fact, Mrs. Denison belongs to a talented
family, all through ; with five stalwart brothers,
besides the little music-loving sister, every one
of them full of talent in some shape.

Dr. Charles Andrews, of St. Paul, Minn., the
rector of the largest and most cultivated congre-
gation of that progressive Western city, is one
of the finest theologians and orators in the pul-
pit; and another brother, James, Andrews, of
Baltimore, is also a natural orator, though,
being a business man, his gift for public
speaking has been unused, except on rare
occasions.

Two brothers are artists. Dr. Robert
Andrews, of Cambridge, who is also a scientific
scholar and lecturer ; and Joseph Andrews, of
Newton, Mass., who makes the most clever pen-
and-ink sketches, with the touch of the fairies
in his fingers, as well as the strength of man-
hood, though he is not an artist by profession,
finding other work more remunerative.

This vein of talent in literature, music, and
art seems to be carried through the following
generation, also. Miss Angie Andrews,- of
Cambridge, although still in her 'teens, is
already a contributor to St. Nicholas; and Miss
Estelle Andrews, of Newton, is a brilliant
pianist, and has received many compliments
from the best critics, though only an amateur as
yet. Another niece of Mrs. Denison, Miss
Mamie Andrews, of Baltimore, is also full of

The Writer.

musical talent; while her sister Annie has
done some really fine work in art.

Mrs. Denison*s husband was gifted also, and
if he had not been so wedded to his work of
philanthropy, Rev. Charles Denison might have
rivalled his distinguished cousin, George Deni-

son Prentice. But he laid both fortune and
genius on the altar of our common humanity,
and now his crown in heaven i9 rich in stars,
which is better far than earthly fame.

Margaret Sullivan Burke,

Washington, D. C.

AFFECTATION IN LITERATURE.

There is a world of literary life and thought
in this country into which the ordinary reader
has not penetrated, and in considering some of
the emanations therefrom it is not clear to my
mind that the " ordinary reader " is, as a loser,
very much to be pitied. I refer to the class of
our litterateurs pure and simple — those who
have separated themselves from the sympathies
of ordinary life, and who not only eschew poli-
tics, and theology, and the ordinary social
questions, but surround themselves with as
much unreality in every way as possible.

The idea with these transcendental persons
is to cultivate a literary life, independent of all
surrounding conditions except those which
arise from their association with each other or
from the common studies in old-world literature
in which all of this type are supposed to be profi-
cient. Authors of this class are the sworn foes
of the realism of magazine literature in the
present day, and cannot understand why the
reading public should care more for the peri-
odical expressions of men distinguished in
practical or professional life than for their own
ostensibly deeper and more enduring themes.
They look upon these doctors of divinity,
famous generals, men high in the political
world, and the like, as ephemeral and acci-
dental, and upon themselves, I suppose, as the
eternal verities. When they meet with dis-
couragements and detect lack of popular appre-
ciation they console themselves with the feel-
ing that they cannot write down to the level of
the American people, and they rail against the
** commercialism " and dull realism of the

present as the barrier to true literary progress.

The fact is that the American people are
practical-minded and give a practical character
even to their ideal pursuits. It is impossible
to revive literature in our day in the sense in
which it existed when a leisurely and privileged
class alone were entrusted with its preserva-
tion. The age demands that literature shall
give its reason for existence — that it shall
stand ready to act as the handmaid of other
arts and not attempt to dominate them.

To show the discrowned and subordinate
state of mere literature, let us imagine Byron
come back to earth with his whims and
crotchets and somewhat noisy sadness. The
paragraphers of to-day would have no mercy
upon him. Yet Byron never penetrated into
the domain of the mystical or hypercritical as
deeply as some of our modern literary tribe
delight to do. He was as easily comprehended
as a spelling book — that is, if one understood
the true meaning of the social as well as
political revolution of which Byron stood forth
the most conspicuous literary illustrator.

I believe that some of our most distinguished,
and in a sense successful, literary folk are
throwing their lives away for want of skill to
read the signs of the times and see just what
the world really wants. For one thing, the
mass of readers do not want a literary tracery,
so delicate that in following its complexities
they shall lose sight of the main threads.

" Ah ! " you say, " but we are not writing for
the herd, — the perishable mass, — but for im-
mortality."

The Writer.

Immortality always seemed to me, for one,
"to be a very indefinite sort of thing. Lord
Byron and Sir Walter Scott seemed to have as
-fair an outlook for immortality as any literary
men of their day and generation — and neither
of these were mere dreamers or weavers of
mystic and impalpable conceits. They were
■both breezy, modern men in their treatment of
every subject — either in verse or in prose.
But both of these "immortals" have been
practically discrowned for a generation or
more. The taste of the world has steadily
fixed itself more upon present things, and this
change of taste has colored and directed
literature and art no less than other branches
of aesthetic progress. It may be impossible to
-drive our romantic poets and other literary folk
to a full realization of this change in popular
demand. There are writers among us all of
whose models are antique or mediaeval. They
write in a tongue unknown to the mass of the
readers of popular magazines. To say nothing
of their allusions to vaguely-understood and
out-of-the-way phases of old-world history, their
style itself is not the style of the present day.
It is not the style of the men and women who
ride on railroads and read daily papers. It is
unreal, introversive, reactionary. I admit that
^here are great names among those included in
this class, and some of them may prove im-

perishable. But I would ask: Why delve and
sweat in this renaissance crusade — this repro-
duction of vanished forms — when our own age
demands so much of the true scholar and poet
for its proper illustration ?

It seems to me that the whole question re-
solves itself into this : Is literature in its final
form fixed by the dainty taste of the antiquary
and the classicist, or do the people make the
poet, and is their approbation the decisive
verdict ?

The greatest of all who ever took stylus,
quill, or harp in hand was emphatically the
poet of the people. The strokes of Shake-
speare were throughout bold, and his presenta-
tions were such as the veriest rustic could
understand. I wonder what some of our dainty
men and women singers or romancists would
think if they were required to write down to
the people as Shakespeare did. I am strongly
inclined to suspect that such writing is, after
all, writing up. I know that this view would
meet with serious disapprobation in some of
the afiEected circles of our American Athens
and among those other poets of our land who
aspire to wander among old pillars and plinths
and to cull sprigs of ivy from their desolation.
But how about the average tastes of the great
American people }

Elmira, n. v. William B. Chisholm,

A LITERARY SCRAP-BOOK.

A literary scrap-book is of invaluable aid to
the literary worker, and materials for it may be
gathered from the papers and magazines which
pass through one's hands from day to day.

Such a book lies before me as I write. It
4s worth more to its owner than any book
of essays or criticism, for it includes a wide
o-ange of subjects, treated by many different
authors.

.A few specimen titles may be quoted : " The

Philosophy of the Short Story," Brander
Matthews, in Z/)>//>i^<7//'jy "Virility in Fiction,"
Maurice Thompson, in the Independent; " The
Writer's Inspiration," William H. Hills, in the
American; "The Outlook for the American
Poet," J. H. Haggerty, in America; "The
Psychology of the Modern Novel," Professor
George T. Ladd, in the Critic; " How Plays
Are Written," Steele Mackaye, in The Author;
and " Short Stories and Short-Story Writing,"

THE Writer.

Hezekiah Butterworth, in The Writer. This
last was from a duplicate copy ; The Writers
are too valuable to clip.

My scrap-book contains about sixty valuable
and critical articles, and I am adding to it all
the time.

When the article is printed on both
sides of the page, I paste it to the "stubs"

with which the scrap-book is provided^
Many of us authors have but a limited space-
for our lares and penates, and cannot keep maga-
zines, even though they contain matter whicb
may be of interest to us in the future. In the-
literary scrap-book many valuable articles may-
be preserved. Adelaide Rouse.

New York City.

WHY MUST ALL STORIES END HAPPILY .>

I. — They Do.

The finishing up of a story is the most import-
ant feature of it ; but the question now presents
itself to all writers, whether or not one^s idea
of what the termination might be, if the charac-
ters really lived and existed, should be sacri-
ficed to a happy, cheerful ending.

We all know the sorrow that is brought to a
child's heart when the lovely wax doll of the
story is carried off by the dog and the brave
rescuer fails to appear in time, or when the
jaunty, comical monkey, enshrined in the lov-
ing little heart as the symbol of everything
amusing and gay, is suddenly kicked and
abused by its organ-grinder owner. Children
love brightness and sunshine, and they should
have it; but how about the grown-up story-
readers, who confess to this same childishness
about having the tale " turn out well " ?

The writer, — dear me, has he anything to say
after all ? He feels that he has, although he
admits that his feeble wail is drowned in the
sea of shouts that arise from the hungry pub-
lic clamoring for cheerfulness. Still, his art
demands that he depict nature ; and to marry
the hero to the heroine in the end, when it has
been his task through something like 4,000 or
5,000 words to prove their utter uncongeniality,
is nothing short of a crime to him. If it were
actual life, he knows a divorce would follow in
three months ; but because the characters are.

Punch and Judy figures in his hand, to be-
pulled and jerked in all directions at his will^
must he feel compelled to cater to a love of
happy endings, when every fibre in his body
protests against such injustice ?

The Public has its claims, the Writer has his,
but have not the creatures of fiction their rights
also?

Miss Mary Wilkins, in "Jane Field," gave
us an ending that was not only artistic and
dramatic, but natural and practically life-like.
What if it did leave us with a sad wistfulness
that the poor, narrow, suffering woman might
have come rightfully into a portion, at least, of
the wealth that she had dishonestly taken pos-
session of? That has nothing to do with it.
The termination, as Miss Wilkins has given it,
is life. The whole strength of the story lies in
that — any other ending would have detracted
from the power of the story, and made it weak.

Still, we recognize in the little love episode,
with its happy finale, the writer's amiable desire
not to leave us with too much sadness. To
some this undoubtedly redeemed the story
from utter blackness ; but to the writer-reader
it was so small a part it might easily be erased
and never be missed.

But Miss Wilkins has won a name and fame \
she can afford to coddle and humor her inclina-
tions, which, whether fortunately or unfortu-
nately, the great majority of writers cannot do.

THE WRITER.

When we become Miss Wilkinses, we may not
only dictate to our ideas, but also to our editors.
In the mean time, we must consult, to a certain
extent, popular taste.

The " happy-ending " constituents argue that
there is enough misery and unhappiness in the
world without writing about it. People read,
they claim, for diversion. All this may be ; btit
while the natural-ending element by no means
encourages or advises, and, indeed, condemns,
unnecessary depression or chronic melancholia,
and while it is willing to make all reason-
able concessions, it insists, at the same time,
that the representation of life sometimes de-
mands an unhappy termination; that art is
nature, and that nature is often sadness.

Alice Yates Grant,

San FRANasco, Calif.

II.— -They Don't.

May it be permitted to a layman to inquire
why the great majority of the writers of short
stories in our leading magazines consider a
tragic culmination to be indispensable to their
productions ?

Doubtless it is proof of our modern develop-
ment of taste that both writer and reader are
satisfied with the old system of story telling,
which was but to portray the troublous course
of true love, with a wedding at the close, and the
sanguine inference that the lovers "lived in
peace forever after." But why, in the reaction
from centuries of such tales, short and long,
should the pendulum swing to the extremest
opposite? Must such a surfeit of final blisses
beget the necessity of endless terminations of
pathetic type ?

It is comparatively seldom now that the
magazine reader gets one cheering reflection,
one hopeful impression, one inspiring picture
from that galaxy of modern tales emanating
from our brightest authors.

At this rate, the touch of disparagement or
satire, the pall of resignation or despair will
soon become the insignia of membership in this
too sophisticated coterie of letters.

Now the average reader who leads an aver-
age life sees quite enough of unrewarded labor,
of thwarted ambitions, of weary disappoint-
ments, and endless combinations of fruitless

patience, unmerited punishments, and uncon-
summated loves — without having it all re-
flected upon him from the very agents to which
he looks for amelioration of life's bitterness.
If not to light literature, then where shall he
turn for a soothing or inspiring suggestion of
brighter destiny ? To be sure, the story-teller's
art is supposed to be the mirror of resd life, —
but why not reflect the high lights as well as
the shuddering glooms ? Besides, the most
prosaic art may idealize somewhat.

We ail know the story of the two actors who
had a contest to see which one could imitate a
pig in the most natural and life-like manner.
One, in the judgment of all concerned, was far
more successful than the other, when the de-
feated candidate opened his capacious coat and
proved it to be a veritable pig whose too prosaic
squealing had lost him the contest.

" When I was young my strain was sad," says
"Grace Greenwood," "but now I'm old my
strain is glad," she adds, — and this is the nat-
ural evolution of the human taste. In youth,
with the disenchantments of experience practi-
cally unknown, we revel in the "grand, gloomy,
and peculiar." When youth is past, who wants
to be eternally reminded that our illusions, aspi-
rations, and all the rest are smoking on the
altar-flres behind us ?

For heaven's sake, gentlemen, give us some-
thing brighter ! Let it be absurd, fantastic —
what you will ! even to plebeian cheerfulness,
and we will take the tonic draught with grati-
tude.

Simple human nature, defeated of its instinct
of worship and its hunger for perfect loves,
does not desire the wet handkerchief of sympa-
thetic experience held eternally to its eyes.
Avaunt, with your harrowing heartaches, your
processions of perplexities and disappoint-
ments, your hopeless catastrophies, and
tragic culminations of all sorts and shades!
Get hence, every raven's wing that makes
darker by a thought the already black dome
under which this old world of ours, blind with
agony, reels on to unknown futures ! Picture
life a little sweeter than it is. Squeal more ably
than Mr. Pig himself could do.

Jessie Wilson Manning,

Chariton, la.

THE Writer.

The Writer.

Published monthly by The Writer Publishing Company, 282
Washington street, Rooms g and io« Boston, Mass.

WILLIAM H. HILLS.

Editor.

*«*Thb Writer is published the first day of every month.
It will be sent, post-paid, Onb Ykar for Onk Dollar.

%* All drafts and money orders should be made passable to
The Writer Publishing Co. Stamps, or local checks, should
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*•* Thb Writer will be sent only to those who have psud for
it in advance. Accounts cannot be opened for subscriptions,
and names will not be entered on the list unless the subscription
order is accompanied by a remittance. When subscriptions ex-
pire the names of subscribers will be taken off the list unless an
order for renewal, accompanied by remittance, is received. Due
notice will be given to every subscriber of the expiration of his
subscription.

*«* No sample copies of The Writer will be sent free.

%*The American News Company, of Ne^ York, and the
New England News Company, of Boston, and their branches,
are wholesale agents for The Writer. It may be ordered
from any newsdealer, or direct, by mail, from the publisher.

*«* Everything that may be printed in the magazine will be
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Writer outside of the advertising pages.

*«* Advertising rates will be sent on request.

%* Contributions not used will be returned, if a stamped and
addressed envelope is enclosed.

THE WRITER PUBLISHING CO.,

282 Washington Street ( Rooms 9 and 10 ),
( P. O. Box 1905. ) Boston, Mass.

Vol. VII. January," 1894. No. i.

Mr. Vansant*s helpful article in this number
of The Writer is in the same line as the
article entitled " The Variations of * Said * " by
Arthur C. Grissom, which was published in
The Writer for February, 1891. Mr. Gris-
som^s article included an alphabetical table of
between 400 and 500 words which may be used
in place of " said," and it still remains the most
exhaustive treatment of the subject ever pub-
lished.

***

about any literary work on which they may be
engaged. The chief object of The Writer is
to be a magazine of mutual help for authors,
and its pages are always open for anything
practical which may tend in this direction.
Bits of personal experience, suggestions regard-
ing methods, and ideas for making literary
work easier or more profitable are especially
desired. Articles must be short, because the
magazine is small.

***

The sixth bound volume of The Writer,
with full index and title-page, will be ready for
delivery about January 25. It will contain
more than 230 pages, and will be neatly bound
in cloth, in style uniform with the preceding
volumes. A complete set of bound volumes of
The Writer is something that no writer's
library should be without. Nowhere else can
be found so many practical, helpful articles
and suggestions regarding the best and most
profitable methods of literary work. It will
not be possible always to secure a complete
bound set of The Writer, for the supply of
some of the volumes is so small that already
the price of single volumes has been advanced,
and the supply is sure to be exhausted at no
distant day. Those who would like complete
sets of the magazine, therefore, will do well to
send in their orders now. The purchase of a set
will be a good investment, for complete sets of
the magazine are sure to increase in value as
the years go by.

***

The price of Vol. VI. of The Writer, for
1892-93, will be $1.50. The price of a complete
bound set of the six volumes of the magazine
will be for the present Nine Dollars, or, with a
subscription for The Writer for 1894 added.
Ten Dollars. No better present could be given
to any literary worker. The prices of volumes
of The Writer ordered singly are: Vol. I.
(1887), $2.00; Vol. II. ( 1889), $1.50; Vol. III.
(1889), $2.00; Vol. IV. (1890), $1.50; Vol. V.
(1891 ), $1.50; Vol. VI. ( 1891-92), $1.50. Those
who desire to complete their sets should send
their orders now, before it is too late.

♦ *♦

A few complete sets of The Author —
which was merged with The Writer at the

The Writer.

beginning of 1892 — may still be had. They
comprise the three bound volumes for 1889,
1890, and 1 891, which will be sold separately
for Two Dollars each, or together for Five
Dollars. These volumes of The Author con-
tain a fund of information about authors and
literary work to be obtained nowhere else, and,
like the volumes of The Writer, they are sure
to be enhanced in value as time goes on. The
number of complete sets available is compara-
"tively small.

What better investment can any writer make
than to spend fifteen dollars for a complete set
of the bound volumes of The Writer and
The Author, together with a subscription for
The Writer for 1894, — either for himself or
as a useful present to a literary friend ?

*
* *

" There is little excuse for a man's corre-
spondence or other literary accumulations to
lie carelessly around the house or library when
a letter file with index can be purchased for less
than twenty-five cents," says the American
Stationer — and the American Stationer is
right. The literary man, especially, cannot
afford not to lake advantage of the inexpensive
helps to order and classification which he can
get at small expense. Pigeon-holes, a box of
envelopes for filing purposes, desk drawers
suitably sub-divided, scrap books, and a simple
indexed letter file for correspondence are
Avithin the reach of every one, and they are all
invaluable helps to literary men. Editors,
particularly, need such conveniences for the
orderly performance of their daily work. It
is chiefly because editors are so unsystematic
that writers have reason for complaint.

***

Certainly no magazine editor ought to encour-
age the ** thirteen " superstition by always send-
ing back all his rejected manuscripts on the
thirteenth day of the month.

W. H. H.

♦

HUDDLE YOUR IDEAS.

Nobody cares what first aroused you to your
theme. No one cares whether you were at your
baize-covered desk or sawing wood when your
topic, like a stiff gale, rushed into your mental

sails, and made them belly with fresh ideas.
Few readers will seek to know where you were
stationed when the coy subject came buzzing
into your mind, and formed itself into a convic-
tion, and how you impaled it with your tren-
chant pen before it could vanish into forget-
fulness.

Plant your ideas thick, but not two in a hill.
Don't imagine that they should be set through
your article like sentinels — with considerable
space between. Close up the ranks; your ideas
won't suffocate. The average reader has the
capacity to scoop them up where they are
thickly settled, without milestones explaining
their distance and locality.

Huddle your thoughts into short, pithy para-
graphs. Don't smother them with verbiage,
until they dwindle into faint shadows, flitting
through a forest of big words.

This is merely the faint outline of an ideal
conception, which is as unapproachable as the
horizon, and which mocks me with its impos-
sible beauty; but it is a standard at which all
who write for the press should aim.

Brooklyn, N. Y. Jed Scarboro-

HOW NOVELISTS INTRODUCE
CONVERSATION.

She " began," " asked," " said," " remarked,"
" suggested," " answered," " explained," " mur-
mured," "admitted," "interposed," "sighed,"
" babbled," and " fluttered."

The reader may be curious to know in what
occupation the female represented by the pro-
noun was engaged, that such a collection of
diverse verbs should be necessary to explain
her actions. These, however, are merely some
of the words used by William Dean Howells
for the purpose of introducing conversation in
one of his recent works.

As is well known, the dialogue in a novel adds
greatly to its charm ; and if it is well written, it
will hold the reader's attention even better than
an exciting description.

The verb employed must be, as a rule, in the
past tense, and the most convenient and expres-
sive one is " said " ; but the constant repetition
of this word becomes monotonous; although
many authors of reputation are seemingly not

The Writer.

afraid to use It, and sprinkle their pages liber-
ally with ** saids/* The careless reader becomes
so used to its appearance that often the repeti-
tion IS not noticed. The next time you pick up
a story, just count the number of times the word
occurs, and you will probably be surprised at
its frequency.

To avoid tautology, a number of other words
prove of great value to the writer, and his
" Unabridged '* is compelled to yield up appro-
priate terms in which to introduce the speech
of his characters.

Charles Dickens made the conventional
"said" do useful service. For example, on
one page of " Pickwick " we find this word
employed seventeen times — seven times in
successive remarks.

Among other words used by the great novel-
ist are the following: "Inquired," "replied,"
"exclaimed," "echoed," "urged," "whispered,"
"observed," "nodded," "cried," "resumed,"
"continued," "responded," "rejoined," "sug-
gested," " remonstrated," " ejaculated," " solilo-
quized," "growled," "screamed," and " roared."

Very often no explanatory words are neces-
sary to show which person is speaking, and the
dialogue continues in this way, until at last it is
necessary to jog the memory by introducing a
name.

The number of words which it is possible to
employ for the purpose is almost unlimited ;
but it is not well to show too much ingenuity in
capturing outlandish expressions. A simple
and direct style is much more readable, although
at times there may be a little tautology.

The following conversational aids are fre-
quently used: "Returned," "pursued," "re-
torted," "repeated." "insisted," "went on,"
"announced," "sobbed," "declared," "cor-
rected," " interposed," " demanded," " ven-
tured," "put in," "pronounced," "questioned,"
"muttered," "lisped," and "snapped."

Pmilad«lphia. Penn. IVtibur M, Vausant

AN author's" CONFESSION.

" Now, I call that real pretty," said she, smil-
ing at me over her gold-bowed spectacles..
" It*s as good as that piece I read last Sunday
in the" — but never mind about the name; I
will be merciful and spare the tender feelings-
of the paper in question, albeit its editor never
spared mine — "Why don't you get it printed?""

Dear, simple soul ! How could she know
why I did n't.' that was too much for even me,,
grown worldly wise.

I did not tell her that I had already sent it ta
nine editors, and that whatever the reason was
why I had n't got it printed, it was certainly not
because I had n*t tried. No, I could n't tell her
that ; it would have terribly shaken her faith ia
me, and without the slightest reason, as my
brother and sister rhymers can sadly testify.

And what did I say?

Well, if you must know, I answered with a
studied carelessness that would have beea
amusing to you, initiated reader, if you hadl
been there : —

" Oh ! I don't know but I shall sometime."

Persis E, Darrow.

Wbntworth, N. H.

I had just been reading a little poem to a
fond aunt of mine, a dear, simple old lady. I
was a trifle proud of these particular verses, it
must be confessed, and my good aunt was very
proud.

QUERIES.

[ Questions relating to literary work or literary topics will be-
answered in this department. Questions must be brief, andl
of ^neral interest. Questions on general topics should be
directed elsewhere.]

How long should be allowed by publishers'
etiquette l^fore an article submitted for publi-
cation is acknowledged or returned? Is it
quite fair for an editor to keep an article for a
long time (say, a year), and then return it
"with regrets,'^ etc., etc.? H. A. w.

[ The best magazines usually either accept or
decline a manuscript within a month from the-
time of its receipt. A delay of two months iiv
reaching a decision is not uncommon. If a.
writer has heard nothing from a manuscript
two months after he submitted it, it will do no
harm for him to make inquiries regarding it«
It is not right, of course, for an editor to keep a
manuscript a year l>efore accepting or returning
it. Sometimes, however, such things are done^
either through carelessness, unbusinesslike
methods, or even absolute inability on the part
of the editor to keep up systematically with the

The Writer.

datlj work of his position. The large maga-
zines, which receive the most manascripts, are
forced to make provision for handling them sys-
tematically, and so give contributors the least
trouble. The periodicals that are most likely to
delay decisions are the small publications, which
cJtnnot afford to pay a salary to a manuscript
clerk, arid which are cramped generally in their
resources. In the case of such periodicals, the
task of caring for manuscripts received falls
usually upon the editor. Most literary men are
unbusinesslike, editors no less so than the rest.
The result is that the overworked editor delays
decisions and mislays manuscripts in a most
exasperating way, and contributors suffer ac-
cordingly. All this will be changed when the
time comes, if it ever does, when the demand
for manuscripts is greater than the supply, and
so writers are in a position to dictate terms to
editors, instead of having to put up with what
they can get, as they must now. — w. H. h. ]

When a writer has a book to submit, is it not
advisable to write to a number of publishers at
once ? Writing to each one consecutively
might consume a whole year, and still that book
would not be placed, or even examined.

M. B. C..

[ It might seem at first thought that a writer
with a book manuscript to sell could save a
great deal of time by writing simultaneously to
every publisher for whose use the manuscript
should seem suitable, describing it, and asking
each publisher addressed if he would like to
examine the manuscript with a view to publica-
tion. There are practical objections, however,
to this plan. In the first place, it is not easy to
describe a manuscript so as to give an adequate
idea of it, and in many cases the author^s de-
scription would work him an injustice : the pub-
lisher might conclude that he did not care to
look at the manuscript, and write to say so,
whereas, if the manuscript itself had been sub-
mitted to him for examination, he might have
been attracted by it, so as to make an offer for its
publication. In the second place, it is not easy
to deal with more than one publisher simultane-
ously, unless the author has more than one
copy of the manuscript to be submitted. If,
for instance, five publishers out of fifty should
reply to the author's letter of inquiry that they

would be pleased to examine his manuscript, he-
would have to have five copies of it to send out,,
or else he would have to send four letters of
explanation that might tax his ingenuity. If he
had the five copies required, moreover, and
should send them out simultaneously, he might
— possibly — be embarrassed by having three
of the publishers write to him accepting the
manuscript — in which case he would have to-
make himself unpopular with two of them, at
least. All things considered, the slower method
of approaching one publisher after another with
the manuscript itself, instead of with a letter
describing it, seems to be the safer and the
better one. It takes time to do this, of course,,
but Rome wasn't built in a day, and even
Chicago dates clear back to 1831. — w. h. h.]

Is it not possible that even so able a scholar
as J. H. Long has made a mistake, when,
in his "Slips of Tongue and Pen," he recom-
mends the use of "iced water*' and "iced
cream," in preference to the more popular
terms, "ice water" and "ice cream"? It
seems to me that the two words are scarcely in
parallel case. The use of the word "iced
water" is, no doubt, correct; but is not "ice
water " equallv so, — meaning, as it does, a kind
of water, and established by custom? "Iced
cream," however, is to my mind incorrect. The
word used in this form should convey the idea
of cream set upon ice to cool, or of cream with
lumps of ice floating in it; and not, in any
sense, the popularly accepted meaning of cream
frozen into ice. e. n. b.

[ Strictly speaking, " ice water " is water made
by melting ice, while "iced water" is water
cooled by ice. As a matter of fact, however,,
in America at least, " ice water " and " ice
cream " are both names too firmly fixed in
popular use to be changed by any criticism,
and it seems hardly worth while even to at-
tempt to make any distinction between them —
although if Americans would use ice water
( literally ) less, and iced water ( literally ) more,
the American stomach would unquestionably
be a great deal better off. — w. h. h.]

THE SCRAP BASKET.

I was interested in an article concerning
writers' methods in The Writer for October,
and pleased to learn that I had long ago discov-

THE Writer.

•cred for myself some things that others have
found valuable. But I have gone a step further
than your writer: besides keeping an entry-
book account for all the offered-for-publication
children of my brain, I have kept on each page
an entry of how long manuscripts have been re-
tained before being returned; how much was
paid for them if they were accepted ; and other
small items, of interest to no one but myself,
the whole forming a condensed history of the
article published. This afEords me amusement,
sometimes, when years have passed, and pre-
vents me from sending the same article to a
publisher twice. H. A. w.

Brooklyni N. Y.

I beg leave to " speak out in meetin' " on the
•subject of your third editorial in the November
number of The Writer. There is one maga-
zine writer — of no note, as yet, however — who
has papered his sanctum with the returned-with-
thanks slips of the magazines that failed to rec-
ognize his burning genius at first acquaintance.
He began the practice about two years ago, and
though he has moved his quarters now to a
more congenial vicinity, the walls of the old room
still bear witness to the herculean efforts he
made to get into the magazines then. Moreover,
he found the habit a most efl5cient check to that
disease known as the "swellhead," when, at
rare intervals, a small check of another sort
drifted in from some publisher, and was in
imminent danger of increasing the author's hat-
band. Having used this preventive-cure, he
feels qualified to recommend it, and as the
medicine is neither patented nor difficult to
procure, he thinks you would do well to suggest
its use to the many readers of your magazine
who feel, that however brilliant they may be,
there are others twice as bright.

Everard T. Appieton,

Salt Sulphur Springs, W. Va.

AVhy should an editor believe it to be just
cause for irritation when an author, in all inno-
cence of heart, informs him that another periodi-
cal has accepted the contribution which he
declined ? Suppose, for instance, a poor crea-
ture should do her very best to make a bonnet
which she was sure would suit me, having me
in mind with every stitch she put in it, and

then, with heart beating high with hope, should
bring it to me, willing to take my price for it.
Suppose that I am so well supplied with bon-
nets that suit me better in style and finish that
I cannot possibly take hers ; is that just cause
for me to feel piqued when she comes with
beaming eyes, expecting me to rejoice with her
that some other woman, not so well supplied as
I, has taken it? Should I not be glad that her
toil has been rewarded, instead of suspecting
her of the meanness of trying to retaliate by
letting me know that there were people who
knew a good article when they saw it, and, there-
fore, by implication, are not so obtuse as I ?
Should I not rejoice in her joy ? I think so.

Washington, D. C. /ffl/^r Kearney,

BOOK REVIEWS.

Directory of Periodicals. Compiled by M. A. Weston
andA. L. Nay. 30 pp. Paper, 25 cents. West Peterboro,
N. H.: Josiah C. Nay. 1893.

All published lists of periodicals like this are
of necessity more or less unsatisfactory, be-
cause suspensions, combinations, and changes
of address are made so frequently that printed
lists cannot be depended upon for any great
length of time. This list, for instance, includes
Wide Awake, the Weekly Review, the Home
Maker, and some others which are no longer
published, and there are numerous wrong ad-
dresses and other errors in the list. So far as
it can be depended upon, the little book is use-
ful, but it should not be trusted too implicitly.

w. H. H.

Shakespeare's England. By William Winter. 374 pp.
Qoth, 75 cents. New York : Macmillan & Co. 189a.

Wanderers. The poems of William Winter. With portrait.
268 pp. Cloth, 75 cents. New York : Macmillan & Co.
1893-

Shadows OF the Stage. By Winter Winter. 387 pp. Cloth,
75 cents. New York : Macmillan & Co. 1892.

Old Shrines and Ivv. By William Winter. 296 pp. Cloth,
75 cents. New York: Macmillan & Co. 1892.

This dainty new edition of the works of Wil-
liam Winter will be welcome to the many
admirers of that talented American critic, poet,
and essayist. The well-made i8mo volumes
are most attractive to the eye, and the edi-
tion is in every way a satisfactory one. In
"Shakespeare's England'* Mr. Winter writes
with sympathy and charming grace of English
life and scenery, — describing, as the preface
says, " not so much the England of fact as the
England created and hallowed by the spirit of
her poetry, of which Shakespeare is the soul."
The portrait prefixed to " Wanderers " is an
interesting one. The poems included in the

The Writer.

datlj work of his position. The large maga-
zines, which receive the most manascripts, are
forced to make provision for handling them sys-
tematically, and so give contributors the least
trouble. The periodicals that are most likely to
delay decisions are the small publications, which
ciinnot afford to pay a salary to a manuscript
clerk, arid which are cramped generally in their
resources. In the case of such periodicals, the
task of caring for tnanuscripts received falls
usually upon the editor. Most literary men are
unbusinesslike, editors no less so than the rest
The result is that the overworked editor delays
decisions and mislays manuscripts in a most
exasperating way, and contributors suffer ac-
cordingly. All this will be changed when the
time comes, if it ever does, when the demand
for manuscripts is greater than the supply, and
so writers are in a position to dictate terms to
editors, instead of having to put up with what
they can get, as they must now. — w. H. h. ]

M. B. C..

would be pleased to examine his manuscript, he-
would have to have five copies of it to send out,,
or else he would have to send four letters of
explanation that might tax his ingenuity. If he
had th^ five copies required, moreover, and
should send them out simultaneously, he might
— possibly — be embarrassed by having three
of the publishers write to him accepting the
manuscript — in which case he would have to-
make himself unpopular with two of them, at
least. All things considered, the slower method
of approaching one publisher after another with
the manuscript itself, instead of with a letter
describing it, seems to be the safer and the
better one. It takes time to do this, of course,,
but Rome wasn't built in a day, and even
Chicago dates clear back to 1831. — w. h. h.J

Is it not possible that even so able a scholar
as J. H. Long has made a mistake, when,
in his "Slips of Tongue and Pen," he recom-
mends the use of "iced water" and "iced
cream," in preference to the more popular
terms, "ice water" and "ice cream"? It
seems to me that the two words are scarcelv in
parallel case. The use of the word "iced
water" is, no doubt, correct; but is not "ice
water " equallv so, — meaning, as it does, a kind
of water, and established by custom? "Iced
cream," however, is to my mind incorrect. The
word used in this form should convey the idea
of cream set upon ice to cool, or of cream with
lumps of ice floating in it; and not, in any
sense, the popularly accepted meaning of cream
frozen into ice. e. n. b.

THE SCRAP BASKET.

I was interested in an article concerning
writers' methods in The Writer for October,
and pleased to learn that I had long ago discov-

«4

THE Writer.

pri^pnment." All these stories are reprinted
irom peripdicals, the first three from the Ladies'
Horn^ yournqi. They are well told, and in-
trinsically interesting. w. h. h.

Cathakinb Fubzb. By Mark Rutherford. Edited by bis
friend, Reuben Shapcott. 325 pp. Cloth, $1.00. New
York : Macmillan & Co. 1893.

Catharine Furze is the daughter of an
English iron-monger, whose mother ha^ aspira-
tions toward a higher social position. The
girl's father fails in business ; tne mother fails
to attain the position she desires; an honest
young fellow who loves Catharine fails to win
ner love in return ; the girl who loves him dies
after failing to arouse his interest ; and C'atha-
rine herself dies at the end of the story, the
-one love of her life having been given hope-
lessly to a married minister, who loves her
hopelessly in return. The novel is differen-
tiated from the average French novel by the
artifice of haying both the girl and the minister
control the unhappy passion, and, as the author
^ays, even get good from it. The characters
are generally well drawn, and the story is fairly
well told throughout. w. H. h.

Two BiTBs AT A Chbbry. With other tales. Bv Thomas
Bailey Aldrich. 269pp. Cloth, |i. 25. Boston: Houghton,
Mi£Bin, & Co. 1894.

Mr. Aldrich's stories are always exquisite,
and this collection of the latest of them is a
•delightful one. The book includes " * For
Bravery on the Field of Battle,' " " The Cheva-
lier de Resseguier," ** Goliath," " My Cousin,
the Colonel,'* "A Christmas Fantasy, with a
Moral," and " Her D^ing Words." It is a
-dainty volume, and it will be welcomed by all of
Mr. Aldrich's admirers. Already the book has
reached its fifth thousand. w. h. h.

BOOKS RECEIVED.

Mabioh Dabckb. a Story Without Comment. By F.
Marion Crawford. 309 pp. Cloth, $1.00. New York:
Macmillan & Co. .1893.

PiffTKO Ghislbri. Bt F. Marion Crawford. 439 pp. Cloth,
Iz.oo. New York : Macmillan & Co. 1893.

Thb Hbir of Rbdclyffb. By Charlotte M. Yonge. Illus-
trated by Kate Greenaway. 478 pp. Paper, 50 cents. Chi-
cago : Rand, McNally, & Co. 1893.

HELPFUL HINTS AND SUGGESTIONS.

Tablet Covers for Manuscripts. — Writers
who use the better class of book tablets, either
ior correspondence or literary work, will find the
covers, after the paper is used, very useful as
portfolios for short stories, sketches, poems,
etc. Manuscripts, either in their rough or fin-
ished state, are apt to get tumbled if placed
loose in a drawer; and, of course, no self-

respecting author would think of roUiug^ey&CL
the roughest of his notes. What thei> ? Why,
tablejt covers, to be sure! Your copy of ajl
kinds should be of about the same size as your
note paper. Hunt up a cover, or, better stillt
keep a supply ready, and lay therein your story.
Place a rubber band over each end, and you
may almost play football with your manuscript.
It will keep for years, unsoiled. F. e. m.

Chicago, 111.

A Literary " Incubator." — One of the pigeon
holes above my desk I have named " The Incu-
bator." Its use, as the name implies, is for
the development of idea-germs. When one or
more " ideas " seem promising, they are trans-
ferred, each in separate envelopes, to the "incu-
bator," where notes or clippings are added to
each as the subject develops in the mind or by
study. I find the " incubator " one of the most

useful assistants in my work. f. e. m.

Chicago, 111.

Learning to Illustrate. — "C. B. M.," who
inquires in the September Writer how he can
best learn to draw well enough to make simple
illustrations for his stories, might derive some
benefit from reading the Art Student for
November, which contains the original of an
illustration reproduced full size, and then the
same illustration reproduced as it appeared in
the magazine for which it was made. A visit
to any of the large publishing houses and a
view of the many originals of illustrations would
be of great benefit to one who wished to illus-
trate his own articles. l. e. w.

Sing Sing, N. Y.

Saving Telegraph Tolls. — Telegraphing at
press rates nowadays is comparatively cheap,
but where messages are sent over long dis-
tances, as from Chicago to San Francisco, for
example, the telegraph tolls are considerable
and the saving of superfluous words is a matter
of importance. In news despatches it is cus-
tomary for correspondents to mark the filing
time at the beginning of the message, thus :
" Filed 8.30," or whatever hour the message is
sent. These words are included in the tele-
graph company's count of words; signatures
are not; accordingly, some regular corre-
spondents indicate the hours of filing by using

THE WRITER.

<li£Eerent given names in their signatures. For
instance, Charles Diehl is manager of the Pacific
Associated Press, and he appears under many
aliases during the night. At 7 o'clock he is
^* Paul " Diehl, at 7.30 " Peter," at 8 " John,"
and so on. The manager of the Associated
Press at Chicago, who, of course, has a key,
•can tell the filing time of any despatch from
Diehl by looking at the signature. A story is
told, by the way, of a new telegraph editor on
the Chicago Tribune^ who wondered at the num-
ber of different Diehls sending despatches from
San Francisco, and who swallowed whole the
ingenious story that there were thirteen
brothers who worked harmoniously together —
the most wonderful group of newspaper men in
all the world. b. t. s.

San FRANasco, Calif.

Enlarging One's Vocabulary. — For the
purpose of enlarging my vocabulary, I keep a
•(sometime) blank-book, divided into twenty-six
different parts, thus giving a proportionate
amount of space to each letter of the alphabet.
When, in my reading or in conversation, I am
confronted by a word with which I am not
wholly familiar, I immediately jot it down in my
-** private vocabulary," with list of synonyms,
definitions, examples of use, etc. I find this
practice very useful as an aid to memory.

E. N. B.

Skanbatblbs, N. Y.

(LITERARY ARTICLES IN PERIODICALS.

[The publisher of Thb Writer will send to any address a
•copy of any magazine mentioned in the following reference list
on receipt of the price given in parenthesis following the name.
Readers who send to the publishers of the periodicals indexed
for copies containing the articles mentioned in the list will con-
fer a favor if they will mention Thb Writbr when they write.

Thb Ending op Barstow's Novbl. A Story. Helen
-Campbell. Harper's ( 35 c. ) for January.

Illustrators and Illustration. Charles Dudley
Warner. Harper's (35 c. ) for January.

Whittibr Dbsultoria. Charlotte F. Bates. Cosmopolir
tan ( 15 c. ) for January.

Humor : English and Ambrican. Agnes Repplier. Cos-
tnopoiUan (15 c.) for January.

Edwin Lassbtbr Bynnbr. With portrait. Edward
Everett Hale. New EnglatuL Magasine (250.) for January.

Matthbw Arnold. With portrait. Joseph Henry
Crooker. New England Magasine (25 c. ) for January.

Tbn Lbttbrs from Colbridgb to Southby. Atfantu
(35 c.) for Janu^fy.

LowBLL, Brooks, and Gray in Thbir Lbttbrs. Atlan-
tic for January.

Following Dickbns with a Cambra. H. H. Ragan.
Outing ( 25 c. ) for January.

Elis^b Rbclus and His Opinions. With portrait. Helen
Zimmbrn. Popular Science Monthly for January.

Tbnnyson as thb Pobt of Evolution. Theodore Watts.
Reprinted from Nineteenth Century in LittelVe Living Age
( 18 c. ) for December 9.

How Fauntlbroy Rbally Occurrbd. Frances Ho<^-
son Burnett. Ladies' Home Journal ( 10 c. ) for Deceii^>er.

My Litbrary Passions. — I. William Dean Hpvells
Ladies* Home Journal ( 10 c } for December.

Thb Litbrary Rbmains of Thomas Bragdon. A Story.
John Kendrick Bangs. Harper's Weehly (10 c.) for December
16.

John Tyndall. With portrait. Professor N. S. Shaler.
Harper's IVeehly ( 10 c. ) for December 23.

T. W. HiGGiNSON. With portrait. Chicago Graphic ( 10 c. )
for December 2.

Thb Idbal Library: of What Should It Bb Consti-
TUTBD? Sarah K. Bolton, John Habberton, Mary Lowe
Dickinson. Chicago Graphic ( 10 c. ) for December 9.

An Alaska Nbwspapbr. Chicago Graphic (10 c. ) for
December 9.

Cblia Thaxtbr. With portrait. Chicago Graphic ( 10 c. )
for December 9.

W. T. Stbad. With portrait. Charles F. French. Chi-
cago Graphic ( 10 c. ) for December 16.

Alphonsb Daudbt. With portrait. Chicago Graphic for
December 16.

Donald Grant Mitchbll ( *' Ik Marvel " ). With por-
trait. Chicago Graphic for December 23.

John Tyndall. With portrait. Chicago Graphic ( xo c. )
for December 30.

ViCTORiBN Sardou. With portrait. Chicago Graphic
( 10 c. ) for December 30.

Thb Forum and Its Editor (Walter H. Page). With
portrait. Maida, thb Rbportbr. A Story. Frank W.
Bolande. A Midnight Mistakb. A Newspaper Story.
Thomas F. Anderson. Thb SaBNCB of American Jour-
nalism. Robert F. Walsh, etc., etc. Christmas Journalist
( as c. ).

Dealing with Editors. Wilder Grahame. Journalist
( 10 c. ) for December 30.

Tub Story of thb Photographic Times. With portraits
of E. L. Wilson, J. TraiU Taylor, W. J. StUlman, Clwlcs
Ehrmann, W. I. Lincoln Adams, Walter F. Woodbury-
Photographic Times Christmas number (25 c.).

A Case of Authorship. A Story. Thomas R. Van Reed.
California^ ( 25 c. ) for December.

Literary CoMMBRaALisM. William B. Chisholm. New
PetersorCs Magazine ( 10 c. ) for December.

Journalism as a Profession for Women. Emily Raw-
ford. Reprinted from Contemporary Review in Eclectic ( 45 c.)
for December.

Church and Press J. Thackray Bunce. Reprinted from
National Review in Eclectic ( 45 c. } for December.

Realism in Litbraturb and Art. Clarence S. Darrow.
A rena ( 50 c. ) for December.

Gbrald Massby: Prophet and Rbformbr. B. O.
Flower. A rena ( 50 c. ) for December.

Mr. Howblls Again. Celia Parker WooUey. New Eng-
land Majasine ( 25 c. ) for December.

The Writer.

Hastakd Univbksity Libraky. Charies Knowlet Bol-
ton. Ntw Englattd MmgaxtM* ( 25 c ) for December.
William H. Prbscott. Samuel Eliot. AVw Engiand
( J5 c. ) for December.

NEWS AND NOTES.

Professor John Tyndall died December 4 at
his home in Haslemere, county of Surrey, Eng-
land, aged seventy-three.

M. F. Sweetser, long a resident of Boston
and well known in the book business, has
removed with his family to Denver, Colo., where
he intends to reside for several years, or until
his health is sufficiently recovered to warrant
his returning to Boston.

John H. Whitson, who had an interesting
article on the Ramona Indian School at Santa
F^, N. M., in the November number of IVortk-
ingUm^s Magazine^ is spending a part of the
winter at New Orleans, making a study of the
French, quarter of the city.

Tom P. Morgan, whose Western stories in
the y<mth's Companion^ Harper's^ GoltUn Days^
etc., have attracted much attention, is at his
home in Rogers, Ark., working away earnestly
on humorous paragraphs and sketches to make
the public laugh.

Lorettus S. Metcalf, formerly editor of the
Farum^ is now proprietor of the Florida Citi-
MiH^ a daily newspaper published at Jackson-
ville.

General Lew Wallace consulted more than
fifty books in the preparation of his novel, " The
Prince of India,** and for a time before begin-
ning work he studied astrology in the congres-
sional library at Washington, the necessary
books being obtainable in this country only
there. He spent five years in research, and six
more in writing the novel. His wife was the
only person who knew the scheme of the novel,
the only one who had access to his manuscript,
and the only person with whom he consulted
while writing.

With the January number Current Utiratun
will go back to its original large form, becom-
ing again an eclectic magazine of ninety-six
broad pages monthly. The change is one that
will be welcomed by many readers.

Florence Hull, co-editor of Childhood^ will go»
upon the staff of Gadey^s in January, as editor
of the Home Department, which Mrs. Henry
Ward Beecher has resigned. Besides her edi-
torial work in Childhood^ which has brought her
into considerable prominence, Florence Hull i&
known as a contributor to various magazines
and journals, writing both stories and essays
with equal facility — a facility gained by many
years of hard, self-imposed toil, which few
excepting French authors ever consider neces-
sary to their profession. But her most ambi-
tious work is in preparation, a complete work,
in three volumes, upon race culture, the first
volume of which has appeared as a series of
papers in Childhood duxxng the past year and is
to be brought out before long under its title,
** Preparation for Parenthood."

The first purely literary work produced in
America was a translation of Ovid^s *'Metamor-
phoses," by George Sandys, of Virginia, made
in 1774, and published in 1776. The first
original work published in New England was a
volume of poems by Mrs. Anne Bradstreet,
daughter of Governor Dudley, of Massachu-
setts, published in 1640.

Papers in the January Atlantic of uncommon
interest to students of literary history are ten
letters, hitherto unpublished, from Coleridge to
Southey, and " Down to Tower'd Camelot," a
"Talk at a Country House," by Sir Edward
Strachey, himself the editor of the Globe edition
of Sir Thomas Malory*s " Mort d'Arthur," with
which the " Talk " is concerned.

The Critic for December 2 publishes a re-
markably good portrait of Madame Sarah
Grand, the author of that popular book, '* The
Heavenly Twins." Madame Grand*s real name
is Mrs. McFall.

The Pope Manufacturing Company's Colum-
bia pad calendar has been sent to 6,000 authors
and literary people this year, as in previous
years. It is a useful article on any writer's
desk, and at the same time serves as an excel-
lent advertisement for the firm that sends it
out.

The American News Company ordered
200,000 copies of the December Cosmopolitan ~
more than 100 tons of a single magazine.

The

Writer:

A MONTHLY MAGAZINE TO INTEREST AND HELP ALL LITERARY WORKERS.

Vol. VII.

BOSTON, FEBRUARY, 1894.

No. 2.

EnTI MO AT THE BotTON PotT-OFf ICf A« MCON0-CLAS9 MAIt MATTKR.

CONTENTS : ^b

At Both Ends of thb Line. Jean Hali/eue 17

Nkwspapbr English. H^ili Scott iS

Cbrtain Inai.ibnablb Rights of Authors. R. Mac-

Donald Alden 19

EssBNTiALs of A Gooo MANUSCRIPT Rbadbr. Ella

Stwrtevant W«bh ao

A Hundred and Fifty (Rbcsnt English Words.

H. A. Sckultr Ji

LiTSRATURB FOR ArT^S SaKB. H. M. Hok* 33

Anothbr Bbcinnbr^s Litbrary Expbribncb. /. M.

Lots a4

Thb First Qualification for Authorship. Ed-
ward L. IVhUt as

Editorial. a6

Complete Sets of Thb Author and Thb Writer. . a6

A PuiA for Dialect. A, M.Jackson ^^

"You-UNS." Leojenteyl. 27

QuERiRS a8

The Scrap Basket aS

Book Rrviews 39

Helpful Hints and Sucgrstions. 30

To Remove Enclosures in Pasteboard Rolls, 30 —
Old Envelopes for New Manuscripts, 31 — To Save

Manuscript Paper 31

Literary Articles in Periodicals 31

News and Notes 31

~~AT~BOT« ENDS OF THE L!NE~

I read the other day, in The Writer, of a
man who had coolly papered the walls of his
study-room with a varied assortment of his edi-
torial **declined-with-thanks" slips. The idea
is certainly original, and in these days a most
economical one, for the average writer, at least.
Until the long-delayed coming of the author's
millennium there will probably be a goodly
supply of such wall-paper.

But why .so many rejections.^ It's the old,
old question, and it is hard to answer in gen*
eral; but in particular cases it is possible to
find a reply.

" Now, why was not my story of * On the
Boulevard * accepted by the — , I should like

to know ? *' ponders Miss A. at one end of the
line.

At the other end the editor had said regret-
fully to himself, — as no one else happened to
be present,— ** Why did this writer send a story
of genuinely ' swell * life to us, when she must
know that our aim is to make a study of and
try to help the poorer class of people ? Other-
wise, the story is cleverly written, and it is very
interesting."

Ah ! there was the rub ! As ** Manette," the
maid, would say, the manuscript was not "ap-
propriate."

It is love that ** makes the world go round,"
we know; but if Miss A. had sent her next
effort — a charming love story — to its proper
destination, instead of to the religious weekly
which she did ivy^ she would not have had the
tale "returned with thanks."

" There is nothing new under the sun," may
be the criticism of some reader at this point.
"We have heard all this many times before."
Very true ; but truth will bear repetition. And
simple as this statement i.s, it is the fact, never-
theless, that many hundreds of manuscripts find
their way, more or less promptly, back to their
owners, for the reason of their unsuitability for
the periodicals to which they are sent.

"This story was surely comical enough.
How the Wilsons laughed when I read it to
them ! " He had chosen the goal carefully. It
was a popular "comic" paper which had re-
turned the manuscript "with regret." But the
manuscript in question contained 900 words.
That seemed to .Mr. B. exceedingly short.
Had he studied the "comic" a little more
thoroughly, however, he would have discovered
the fact that no issue had ever contained an
article or a story of more than 300 words.

CoprHcHt. i%i. by Wii uam H. Hills. All rigftu^r ew ^td.

The Writer.

** Too long, by half," sighed the man at the
ether end of the line. " No time at this office
to boil it down, and he probably won't be wil-
ling to cut it up. Let it go, Andrews." And
it goes — home.

" I read that paper for years. I know just
the length and the class of stories it prefers.
And why * Struggle and Strife ' comes flying
back I fail to understand."

And at the other end of the line the editor
had parted with that manuscript with genuine
regret. "Just the thing in some respects," he

said. " But the way she pitches into the s !

She has very strong religious prejudices, evi-
dently. She seems to think her hero's faith the
only one. We*d have all our brethren buz-
zing around our ears if we printed that. She's
too sweeping in her statements. But it's a
strong story " ; and regretfully he sends it home-
ward.

** If I had time enough to rewrite this first
page entirely, this story would be just what
we'd like ; but I can't do it." So the Monthly
News returned the manuscript without a word
of explanation, — from necessity rather than
from choice. And its owner wonders yet where
the trouble lay.

Editors of temperance papers will tell you

that manuscripts have been sent to them whick
were almost faultless. But why did that Miss
D. let her hero smoke? The Temperanu
Times sends the story home ; and Miss D.
promptly tries again, elsewhere, and her manu-
script is accepted. " They evidently don't know
a good story when they see it," she thinks to
herself, concerning the Times, And she for-
gets her hero's cigar entirely.

I had quite a list of other reasons, wise and
otherwise. But I intend to practice what I
preach — as regards long articles for periodi-
cals which desire short manuscripts. So,
" verbum sap,"*^ There must be some reason for a
rejection. ( I wish to be as coolly, calmly, care-
fully, conscientiously just to The Editor as I
possibly can be. You see ! )

If it is not for one of the reasons already
given, or for one that you yourself can easily
find out, the rejection must be laid to the fact
that the supply is greater than the demand, at
present, at least. An editor cannot accept more
manuscripts than he can use. And if he has a
year or two's work provided for already, he may
hesitate to keep all that comes to him.

So let us forgive him !

yean Halifax.

N«w York, N. Y.

NEWSPAPER ENGLISH.

In the vernacular of reporters, information
received clandestinely is generally a " tip," fire
is the "devouring element," and electricity is
the " subtle fluid." Each new book is ** epoch-
making," and politicians are always " in touch "
with somebody or something, and a lecturer in-
variably " looks down upon a sea of up-turned
faces," while everything of a surprising nature
comes "like a thunderbolt from a clear sky."
At a hanging, the murderer, rather than the
s intence, is " executed," and the spectators
wait with " bated breath " until the body falls

with a " dull thud." " Ladies," who are, of
course, " beautiful and accomplished," and who
always have " a host of admiring friends," are at-
tired in "stunning" garments, or sometimes are
" magnificently gowned " ; and it would be only
in keeping with the eternal fitness of things for
the aforesaid reporters to be boldly " collared,"
soundly " cuffed," and vigorously ** booted."
In the village daily a drunken man is always a
"drunk," though fat people have not yet be-
come " fats," or sick men " sicks." We read
frequently that John Smith " Sundayed *' in

The Writer.

^own with his parents, but we are always left
in doubt as to where John " Mondayed,"
*• Tuesdayed," "last weeked," or "Fourth-of-

Julyed."

In newspaper diction things seldom happen;
they "transpire." People are never married;
^thej are " joined in the holy bonds of matri-

mony." There is no such thing as suicide, but
people commit "the rash act for which no
cause has been assigned"; and death is not
death, but merely the "demise" of the "de-
ceased."

Will Scott,

Pbnfibld, Penn.

CERTAIN INALIENABLE RIGHTS OF AUTHORS.

In my dream I saw a mighty concourse of
people, of all ages and conditions, pencils and
artationery in their hands, and on their faces an
expression of heroic determination. As I ap-
proached and asked them who they were and
whither they were bound, one replied : " We
are delegates to the Continental Congress of
Authors, called to protest against the violation
-of our inalienable rights, and to draw up our
Declaration of Independence." Then quoth I,
"What are the inalienable rights of authors? "
and he showed me a parchment whereon a list
of them was written. They were too many to
be mentioned here; but among them were
these : —

^We demand that, when our manuscripts
■ are returned, only the first and last pages shall
be crumpled beyond recognition.

"We demand that editors* memoranda on
the marein of our manuscripts shall not be
made in indelible ink.

" We demand that, when manuscripts are re-
turned after a period of more than fifteen and a
half years, the editor shall write on the envel-
ope the words, * Postmaster, please forward.'

" We demand that, when manuscripts are
published without being acknowledged or paid
for, the editors shall return us the stamps which
were enclosed in case of rejection.

" We demand that, when editors desire to add
material to our contributions, they shall eive
themselves credit for the addition over their
own names.

" We demand that, when editors desire to cut
out portion.s of our articles before publication,
-thev shall insert the word ' Mutilated * immedi-
.ateiy under the title."

There were other rights enumerated which

were perhaps even more inalienable than these,
but the last two of those quoted arrested my
attention, and I should like to say a word in
their behalf. Is it a reasonable demand that,
when an author risks his reputation by the pub-
lication of a manuscript over his own name, it
shall appear without either additions or sub-
tractions save those which may be necessary to
correct errors ? For my own part, it is the right
which I should maintain before that of pay-
ment ; for if I am not paid, my purse alone will
suffer, and not my appearance before the read-
ing public. I believe this view can be defended
by two or three incidents within my own ex-
perience.

Most trying of all was an experience with an
article in a children's magazine. I was pre-
pared to recognize its deficiencies, but was con-
siderably shocked by seeing that a half-column
of it was entirely strange to me. The addition
bore some slight connection with the rest of the
article, but was in a style so entirely different
from mine that the contrast would have been
laughable if I had not been too vexed to laugh.
I was furious, and wrote to the managing editor
that if any one in his ofhce desired to make his
fortune by the work of his pen, he would pro-
ceed much better by writing over his own name
than by inserting his efforts in the middle of my
articles. The reply was mild and courteous,
and reminded me how little I knew of the trials
of a managing editor. There was a certain pic-
ture, it appeared, which fitted on the page with
my article so neatly and satisfactorily that the

THE WRITER.

editorial authorities could not bear to dispense
with it. As it was but remotely connected with
my manuscript, the defect was remedied by the
insertion of the extra half-column as a connect-
ing link. I understood this perfectly, of course,
but could not avoid the reflection that to have
one's articles illustrated in such a roundabout
way has its disadvantages. I am willing to write
for a picture, or to have a picture made for my
manuscript; but further than this I would not

go-
Turning to the matter of mutilations in manu-
scripts, which is, of course, more common and at
the same time more excusable, I have not yet
recovered from the effects of a story which a
well-known magazine published — in part. It
happened that the forms were crowded at the
last moment, and some one was evidently sent
to dismember my poor little story, cutting out
slices here and there with an indifference to
sense so complete as to be positively dazzling.
One paragraph had described a bit of landscape
with a church in it, toward which the hero was
supposed to be walking ; this was cut out, and
the next sentence began, ** When he reached the
church," etc, although there had appeared in
print not the slightest intimation of the exist-
ence of a church in the vicinity. Other pas-
sages were equally satisfactory. In this case
the editor, let it be granted, had the grace to
apologize for the abuse ; but I wanted to tell

him that, though I wa^ glad enough to have the-
money he sent me, I would cheerfully have re-
turned it with a trifle to boot, if my name
could only have been removed from the chopped-
up story which I have no wish to own.

Time would fail me to tell in detail of an editor
who published a poem based on an old legend,
but omitted the verses containing the legend ;
or of another who confined his corrections to
punctuation, and inserted commas at pretty regu-
lar intervals, apparently with a regard for typo-
graphical symmetry rather than for the sense of
the article he published. Doubtless all who
have written for publication could bring their
little " tales of woe " and lay them beside mine.
Have our inalienable rights not been interfered
with, even granting all sorts of privileges and
immunities to our good friends the editors ?

But there is another side ; and I believe that
the fault is partly that of the authors. May not
the ruthless hand of the mutilator be encour-
aged by the fact that so many of us fill our
work with sentences and paragraphs which can
be omitted without loss to the reader or to any
one else ? With this in mind, I have worded
one of my New Year resolutions thus : " I will
so write my manuscripts that no editor can
scratch anything out of them without realizing
that he has done actual damage to the article xtl
his hands." J^. MacDonald Alden.

Philadblphia, Penn.

ESSENTIALS OF A GOOD MANUSCRIPT READER.

The high standard and literary excellence of
any periodical depends largely upon the qualities
possessed by its manuscript Readers — those
arbiters of literary fate whom we mentally, and
sometimes verbally, accuse of taking fiendish
pleasure in ruthlessly mangling our choicest
manuscripts, or in returning them to us unread.

The long-suffering editor has a great deal of
blara'e laid at his door that by rights belongs to
the Readers in his employ.

That there are Readers and Readers goes
without saying.

There are those who seem to think that it
adds dignity to their position to hold a manu-
script for several months, only to return it to
the writer at last with some curt and uncalled-
for criticism. A case in point comes to mind
where an illustrated poem was returned to its
author with the statement that the poem itself
was nothing but doggerel, and the illustration

The Writer.

^t only for the columns of an advertising page.
Criticism is a splendid cudgel for the aspiring
author who really has talent, but people who
•cannot write need to be dealt with more ten-
derly than those who can, and it costs little to
be kind and courteous.

Then there are Readers who allow personal
"friendship or animosity to govern their judg-
ment. If the chief is a trifle careless, the
friend's manuscript is apt to go in, with all its
glaring defects, while the stranger writhes
under the touch of a prejudiced blue pencil, and
^ees his finest points blunted and twisted into
every conceivable shape by the manuscript'
Reader or the proof-reader. A noted writer
says : " There is no defence against the proof-

reader in his wild thirst for original spelling
and novel effects."

A good manuscript Reader never permits his
judgment to be influenced except by the in-
trinsic merit of the manuscript in hand. He
must have a broad knowledge of many subjects,
and especially those which pertain to different
phases of human life ; he must be able to dis-
cern the flne touches in all manuscripts that he
handles. He should be always able to recog-
nize excellence in style, polish, and good lit-
erary form at a glance, and he should base his
decisions alWays from a wholly disinterested
standpoint. Such are the essentials of the
Reader par excellence,

Clkvkland, O. Ella Sturtevant Webb.

A HUNDRED AND FIFTY RECENT ENGLISH WORDS.

A few years ago I had the honor to contrib-
•ute to The Writer a list of words which I had
gathered in the course of my daily readings,
and which, not being found in what was then
the latest edition of Webster's Unabridged
Dictionary, I advised the readers of The
Writer to look up in the new International,
then just issued. Having meanwhile kept up
the custom of noting such new words and new
meanings as happen to draw my attention, I
110W present another collection of words that are
new in so far as the International does not con-
tain them. How many of them are included in
the Century Dictionary, or in the Standard Dic-
tionary now being published by Funk & Wag-
nails, or in any other modern English lexicon
besides the International, I must leave the
•reader to determine for himself.

The whole number of words I have gathered

is two hundred and forty. Wishing, however,

to present only a definite number of good words,

I begin a process of pruning by striking out

l>arbarisms and slang terms, which, though some

*of them are used by otherwise good writers, do

not appear sufficiently respectable to stand in a
general vocabulary of the language. The num-
ber of these castaways is seventeen, and they
are : Bigbug, borous, bullish, burglarize, corn-
juice, daisy, don't-care-ative-ness, go-ahead-ive-
ness, happify, healthery, lefthander, poker
(delirium tremens), right-hander, specs, stick-
to-it-ive-ness, suicide (verb), teacheral.

I next exclude a longer list of special names
applied to patent medicines and proprietary
articles of food, drink, and household use.
These words, partaking of the nature of proper
nouns, and being but samples of scores of simi-
lar terms that arise daily and often as quickly
disappear, can scarcely be seriously considered
by the lexicographer in making up his final list.
I have collected thirty of them, as follows:
Algosine, anacardine, anakesis, auburnine, bona
dea, bovinine, brilliantine, brockaline, castoria,
coleo, cottolene, cuticura, diastine, floraplexion,
gelbite, germateur, gramila, granula, lycodine,
maltase, massanetta, milk-shake, modene, nerva-
line, nervura, angoline, pearline, pedine, phenyo-
caffeine, rosaline, sapolio, soapine, sudsena^

THE WRITER.

wheatena. Some of these words, as anacardine,
cuticura, angoline, are correctly formed, while
others, as floraplexion, sudsena, wheatena, are
undeniable barbarisms.

To complete my pruning, I eliminate a still
longer series of words, which are too rare, too
recent, too self-explanatory, or else too uncer-
tain in meaning and use to suit the present
purpose. Of these I have: Alcophobia, Anti-
Snapper, autoharp, balistite, biff, dattir, eikono-
gen, electricide, electro-thanasia, enchantment
(a game), exfratriation, femiculture, ferrosili-
con, fluorcalcium, forespanker, gradgrinds, hero-
phone, house-hunting, mealer, metagnostic,
metagnosticism, miasma (a color ), mimeograph,
operator ( telegraphist ), orimene, para-toluidine,
pediatry or pediatrics, pous, prerolandic,scrimp-
age or scrimpings. Snapper, tardieu, tipple,
tournoi, trachoma, triton ( a color ), typoscribe,
typescript, typoscripture, — thirty-nine.

There now remain a hundred and fifty
words of well defined meaning and seemingly
well established use, which, in my judgment,
the complete English dictionary of to-day should
contain and explain. To attempt definitions
here would swell this article much beyond its
due length; I shall, however, classify these
words, as I have previously done, under several
convenient heads.

Let me begin with the most fertile field of
new terms, that of science and arts. From
this I have gathered and retained forty-seven
words : Actinomycosis, anti-fat, anti-kamnia,
anti-rabic, appendicitis, apple-scab, biochemical,
cataphoresis, cataphoric, codonophone, comp-
tometer, ecrasite, electricize, electrocute, elec-
trocution, fluorography, flyer, Graham flour,
grammophone, hysophobia, intra-vesical, kelgum,
kinetograph, kodak, linotype, lysophobia, mad-
stone, melinite, nickel-in-the-slot machine, nona,
obromine, orguinette, orthochromatic, pambu-
tano, paratoloid, phenological, photoceramics,
plastomcnite, saccharification, sloyd-work, spi-
roplethe, stafif ( as used in building the " White
City " ), telautograph, Texas fever, tuberculine,
typogravure, unfreezable. Some of these words
will be recognized as already familiar; others
stand greatly in need of definition for the bene-
fit of the general reader.

From the domain of science we pass on to

that of religion and philosophy. This yields usr-
only sixteen terms, as follows: American
Protestant Association, Christian science^
Christian scientist, credal, doctrinarily, Econo-
mite. Evangelical Association, extracredaV
Harmonist, Idealism, mind-reader, mind-read-
ing, Oneida Community, Rappist, United
Brethren in Christ, Zoarite. Such of these
terms as designate religious denominations are
by no means new, but they are not defined in
the International, which, as before stated, is
my authority in determining the newness of
words.

The field of business and social life has con-
tributed twenty-five words to my collection.
They are: Bridge-jumper, boomlet, combine
(noun), dockman, dudine, fakir (a pedler), fire-
guard (a protection against prairie fires), green-
goods. Labor Day, life-saver, multi-millionaire,
non-union, Pinkerton, quadro-centennial, shut-
down, smashup, speakeasy, sooner (in Okla-
homa, a settler who entered before the appointed,
time), squaw man, test case, tie-up, tough
( noun ), train-jumper, train-wrecker, wind-up.

Of new terms relating to sports and games
I have admitted only eight : Base-ballist^
caroussel, craps, mamooz, pigs-in-clover, pool-
selling, tiddledy-winks, tricycler. This field is
very productive of new words, but many of
these are too slangy and short-lived for the lexi-
cographer's notice.

In the department of home politics I have
collected thirty-one new terms and new mean-
ings, most or all of which the reader will recog-
nize as already familiar and not in need of
definition. The list is as follows : Afro-Amer-
ican, anti-machine, anti-monopoly, Anti-Poverty
Society, anti-ring, Anti-Silverite, anti-trust, ap-^
portion, apportionment, Bellamyte, boodler,
Councilmanic, Farmers* Alliance, Fusionist,.
hold-over ( adjective ), Labor Party, Nationalism,
Nationalist, People's Party, placeholder. Popu-
list, reapportion, reapportionment, returning
board, Silverite, single tax. Stalwart, Tammany-
ite, tariff-monger. Union Labor Party, United
Labor Party. The last two terms and Stalwart
must be marked as already obsolescent or his-
torical.

Foreign politics give us the following sevea
words, most of which are taken from foreigiL

The Writer.

languages : Anti-Shemitic, berat, buffer state,
Dreibund, RifBan, Rigsdag, Skuptschina.

The remaining sixteen words I shall put
under the heading "miscellaneous.** They
are : A wink ( poetical ), blazer, boardwalk, cen-
sus (verb), concededly, con sultory, dignifiedly,
dotlet, executional, fin-de-si^cle, grid-iron
(verb), happening (noun), house-moving,
stormcoat, stupporn, tactful.

No doubt this list of a hundred and fifty
recent words might easily be increased, even
doubled, by one who would make it his special

purpose to hunt up new terms in the periodical
and book literature of our day. No doubt,
also, the classification here adopted might be
improved upon. However, what is here pre-
sented is sufficient to show that our language,
as the living speech of a hundred millions of
active, thinking people, is daily adopting new
words and adapting old words to new ideas, and
that the dictionary, like the newspaper, is daily
growing old.

H, A. Schulir.

Allbntown, Penn.

LITERATURE FOR ART'S SAKE.

In an article upon George Michel, the painter
of Montmartre, in the Century for November,
1893, Virginia Vaughan says: "To a more de-
liberate intellectual artist each ^ew work is an
event, the record of a step which brings him
nearer to his goal, of which he never loses
sight."

This, it seems to me, would make a good
motto for all writers who earnestly desire self-
improvement and the uplifting of our national
literature. America has not yet attained a high
place in letters. Possibly she is still too young
to be admitted to the elderly company of the
East, but a close observer may find other
causes for this than tenderness of age. How
many of our writers are working for art*s sake ?
It needs liitle more than a glance at current
American literature to detect the absence of
the "high seriousness " which makes classics.
Do our writers set up a goal — a lofty standard
of excellence — and make each new effort a
serious step toward its attainment.'* Do we
not rather have in view the ephemeral fitness
of an article or a story for the pages of certain
well-paying publications ? There are few Grays
these times to labor three years on " An Elegy,"
and there are few poems written which are not
their own epitaphs. Oliver Wendell Holmes
is, indeed, " The Last Leaf " of a literary sum-

mer when an American literature almost
bloomed.

The competition of business has invaded let-
ters. The magazines vie with each other in
announcing attractive lists of contributors for
ensuing volumes ; and the newspapers have
captured illustrious names and advertise " Our
new $10,000 story." Columns of literary notes
are published, exciting literary aspirants with
stories of the amounts which have been paid
for popular tales and enumerating the editions
into which they have run. But when have we
seen it heralded that a story or a poem has ap-
peared that will entitle America to a place in
literature, and that bears the certain evidence
of unselfish love for art and of being a distinct
stride toward a goal ?

In this spirit of mercantilism, we are in too
great haste to print. We seem not to look be-
yond the glory of print and a remunerative
strip of paper. Shall some future critic have
just occasion to write that our characteristic
impatience was what prevented the making of
a national literature.'* It ^^j require Job-like
patience, sublime self-denial, and courage to
labor upon one article, or story, or poem, se-
lected, possibly from a wealth of ideas, as leadr
ing most directly to a high goal, while the
writings of others are being printed, and talked

The Writer.

about, and paid for, — all for pure love of the art.

In these days of making literature a profes-
sion one is compelled to forego the self-satisfac-
tion of doing the best for art's sake. We seem
to be forced to write according to the demand.
How many are honestly striving to elevate the
standard of this supposed demand? Surely
there are themes of paramount interest, pow-
erful emotions pulsating American life, which
are ready for the effort of the true artist for art's
sake, and which, if treated in a true literary
manner, — not the affected, traditional sense of
literature, but in a broad, progressive, earnest,
artistic manner, — would make us a national
literature.

There is no reason why the writer who does
his work from pure love of his art should be a
dreamer. He can toil on in as practical a way

as in any other pursuit. The most useful in-
ventions have been made only through years of
experiment, and often of sacrifice. A novel, a
poem, or a play that will become an American
classic cannot be dashed off and hustled into
print, any more than a sewing machine or a
locomotive can be devised in a day. Shall it
be said that in all our broad land there are no
disinterested lovers of the most enduring of
all arts? Possibly in some luxurious library
or some uncarpeted attic there is a "mute,
inglorious Milton,'' and a generous public is
waiting for him to burst the bonds of his
obscurity. And if his work have the undying
quality, the startling discovery will be made
that the demand has been adapting itself to the
supply, rather than the reverse.

Harrisburg, Penn. H. Af, Hoke.

ANOTHER BEGINNER'S LITERARY EXPERIENCE.

My first attempt at writing took the form of a
novel. When I had reached the five hundred
and sixtieth page I was interrupted in my work,
and I did not see the manuscript again for a year.
At the end of that time I read it over. It was
not at all satisfactory, and with a good deal of
disgust for my ornate and elaborate style of the
previous year, I rewrote it. A liberal prun-
ing soon reduced the manuscript to one hundred
pages, and I found that I had inadvertently cut
out all my love-scenes, sacrificed my hero, and
left my heroine as a mere figure-head, to give
point to the adventures of a picnic party. I
then put the manuscript away, and at the end of
several months read it once more. It struck
me as still being too long, so I further reduced
it, and after writing it out three or four times,
finally condensed it into twenty pages of manu-
script. On the whole I thought it pretty good,
and determined to let the reading public have
the benefit of it, so naming it ** A Picnic Party,"
I sent it off to a local journal.

In about two months it came back to me with
the following note : —

Dbar Sir : —

I beg to return enclosed manuscript. It i» in my opinion
very cleverly written, but too long for the pages of the OracU.
Could you not try your hand on short society bits for as ? I
think '* A Picnic Party " might find acceptance with the Past
or Sunny Hours. Yours, etc.,

Editor of thb OracU.

1 never received any letter that gave me more
pleasure. The " very cleverly written " was
incense to my soul. I immediately acted on
the suggestion made, despatched "A Picnic
Party" to the Post, and devoted my time to
writing society bits, " mere pot-boilers," I told
myself. I composed a great many of them, but
the editor of the Oracle never said that the
pot-boilers were cleverly written, although I
endeavored to please him with humorous and
satirical sketches in the character of a small boy,
an old maid, a farmer, a man-about-town, and a
philosopher. I can't say how many stamps the
society bits cost me, or how long it was before

The Writer.

onejof them was accepted. In the mean while
"A Picnic Party" came back again, with an-
other very polite note stating that the "Editor
of the -P^j/ regretted that he could not negotiate
for ' A Picnic Party,' as the Post was not at
present paying for outside contributions."

I next tried Sunny Hours. This magazine
also returned the manuscript. On the back
of it was scribbled in blue pencil : —

Sketch fairly well written, but punctuation bad. — Editor
Sunny Hours.

This necessitated a fresh copy, which having
been carefully made, with all the improvements
in punctuation that I could think of, I sent it to
one of the large magazines. In due time it
came back to me as before with *' Too late for
this season," written on a piece of note-paper.
Believing that time was made for slaves, and
that in all likelihood another summer would have
arrived before the manuscript was returned, I
posted the article again. It reached me a little
sooner than usual, with a printed refusal, with
the words, " Non-acceptance does not necessarily
imply lack of merit," underlined in red pencil.

I don't like printed refusals, but the under-
lined words were a little balm to me, although
riper experience inclines me to doubt if they
were so marked for my special benefit.

At the next editorial door I approached I was
informed that they •* had enough sketches of
the kind to last for three years."

I began to realize that the literary market
must be glutted, but feeling it a pity that " a
•cleverly written article " should be lost to the
world, I sent it out three or four times more, its

many travels obliging me to take several fresh
copies, and leaving me heartily tired of the
thing. At last I decided to be generous, and
wrote to the editor of the Post^ reminding him
of his first letter, and said he could have " A
Picnic Party" without paying for it if he wished.
He accepted my offer, and two months later I
was in print. Truth compels me to add that
the magazine that had the temerity to print
my maiden effort collapsed shortly afterwards,
although I am naturally disinclined to believe
that my innocent little sketch was entirely re-
sponsible for the fact, especially as shortly after-
ward a humorous paper used one of my " society
bits."

I had written a great many articles for a
certain paper before I dared to suggest that
"what was worth printing was worth paying
for," but to show that these demands, when
reasonably made, are responded to by editors
that have souls, I wish to say that my editor
replied at once to my hint. In answer to my
letter he sent me, by return mail, a nice, new,
crisp one-dollar bill — full payment for an article
that had taken me a week to write.

I felt snubbed.

A dozen rejected manuscripts couldn't have
humbled me as that dollar did, but it was cer-
tainly not the fault of the editor. What possi-
ble concern could it be to him, that a pen in the
halting hand of a novice took an entire week for
writing what should have been done in a couple
of hours ?

y. Af. Loes.

Port Hope, Ont.

THE FIRST QUALIFICATION FOR AUTHORSHIP.

If I were asked, " What is the first qualifica-
tion for success in authorship?" I should say
promptly, " Common sense." A writer may
have genius, literary talent, education, industry,
and all the other literary virtues, but if he does

not have common sense along with the rest, he
is sure to be more or less a failure. Common
sense alone will not win success in authorship ;
but it is the first and most important requisite.
Brooklyn, N. Y. Edward L. IVkiU,

The Writer.

Published monthly by The Writer Publishing Company, aSa
Washington street. Rooms q and lo, Boston, Mass.

WILLIAM U, HILLS, . . . Editor.

•«*Thb Writer is published the first day of every month.
It will be sent, post-paid, Onb Ybar for Onb Dollar.

%* All drafts and money orders should be made payable to
The Writer Pub'ishing Co. Stamps, or local checks, should
not be sent in payment for subscriptions.

%*Thb Writbr will be sent only to those who have paid for
it in advance. Accounts cannot be opened for subscriptions,
and names will not be entered on the list unless the subscription
order b atccompanied by a remittance. When subscriptions ex-
pire the names of subscribers will be taken off the list unless an
order for renewal, atccompanied by remittance, is received. Due
notice will be given to every subscriber of the expiration of his
subscription.

%* No sample copies of Thb Writbr will be sent free.

VThe American News Company, of New York, and the
New England News Company, of Boston, and their branches,
are wholesale agents for Thb Writbr. It may be ordered
from any newsdealer, or direct, by mail, from the publisher.

%* Everything that may be printed in the magazine will be
written expressly for it.

%* Not one line of paud advertisement will be printed in Thb
Writbr outside of the advertbing pages.

%* Advertising rates will be sent on request.

*«* Contributions not used will be returned, if a stamped and
addressed envelope is enclosed.

THE WRITER PUBLISHING CO.,

28a Washington Street ( Rooms 9 and 10),

( P. O. Box 1905. ) Boston, Mass.

Vol. VII. February, 1894. No. 2.

Short, practical articles on any topic con-
nected with literary work are always wanted
for The Writer. Literary people are invited
especially to send in suggestions for the " Help-
ful Hints" department, and items of information
about any literary work on which they may be
engaged. The chief object of The Writer is
to be a magazine of mutual help for authors,
and its pages are always open for anything
practical which may tend in this direction.
Bits of personal experience, suggestions regard-
ing methods, and ideas for making literary
work easier or more profitable are especially
desired. Articles must be short, because the
magazine is small.

The sixth bound volume of The Writer,
with full index and title-page, is now ready for

delivery. It contains more than 230 pages, and
is neatly bound in cloth, in style uniform with
the preceding volumes. A complete set of
bound volumes of The Writer is something
that no writer's library should be without.
Nowhere else can be found so many practical^
helpful articles and suggestions regarding the
best and most profitable methods of literary-
work. It will not be possible always to secure
a complete bound set of The Writer, for the
supply of some of the volumes is so small that
already the price of single volumes has been
advanced, and the supply is sure to be ex-
hausted at no distant day. Those who would
like complete sets of the magazine, therefore^
will do well to send in their orders now. The
purchase of a set will be a good investment, for
complete sets of the magazine are sure to in-
crease in value as the years go by.

• ••

The price of Vol. VI. of The Writer^
for 1892-93, is $1.50. The price of a complete
bound set of the six volumes of the magazine
w^ill be for the present Nine Dollars, or, with a
subscription for The Writer for 1894 added.
Ten Dollars. No better present could be given
to any literary worker. The prices of volumes
of The Writer ordered singly are: Vol. L
(1887), $2.00; Vol. II. ( 1888), $1.50; Vol. III.
(1889), $2.00; Vol. IV. (1890), $1.50; Vol. V.
( 1 891 ), $1.50; Vol. VI. ( 1891-92), $1.50. Those
who desire to complete their sets should send
their orders now, before it is too late.

.».

A few complete sets of The Author —
which was merged with The Writer at the
beginning of 1892 — may still be had. They
comprise the three bound volumes for 1889,
1890, and 1 891, which will be sold separately
for Two Dollars each, or together for Five
Dollars. These volumes of The Author con-
tain a fund of information about authors and
literary work to be obtained nowhere else, and,
like the volumes of The Writer, they are sure
to be enhanced in value as time goes on. The
number of complete sets available is compara-
tively small.

• ••

What better investment can any writer make
than to spend fifteen dollars for a complete set

The Writer.

»r

of the bound volumes of The Writer and
The Author, together with a subscription for
Thb Writer for 1894, — either for himself or
as a useful present to a literary friend?

iV« H* n«
#

A PLEA FOR DIALECT.

Having read Mrs. Denison's article in the
January Writer, and being also "saturated
with dialect," I beg leave to say a few words
from another point of view.

Why, may 1 ask, should one become so steeped
in dialect that one feels like " letting go all the
niceties of grammar and rhetoric," niceties in-
herent and acquired, any more than one would
feel constrained to let go the eighth command-
ment after reading the adventures of a thief?
How can it be in any sense refreshing to "get
out of the common routine, and say * naw ' for
no"? Wouldn't it be as refreshing and sug-
gest just as ** delightfully lazy " an existence to
forego one*s bath for a month, because of a
certain hero, who proved that a man might be a
" man for aMhat " ?

The dialect story is vastly instructive and
entertaining, whether it suggests new words and
phrases that are apt and striking, or impales in
cold type the mistakes which long familiarity
has led us to condone. Said one intelligent
young person who had had but meagre educa-
tional advantages, " I always mispronounced
•creek,* and never knew I was wrong until I
taw it spelled * crick * in a dialect story." There
is a fascination in "chasing verbal monstrosi-
ties to their lair " ; and what a subtle charm has
a peculiar pronounciation upon lips polite ! The
conversation of my little Southern cousin, who
habitually and unconsciously slurs her r's, is a
perpetual delight.

In the assembly room of the Woman's Build-
ing last summer, the Countess of Al>erdeen, in
a clear, thrilling voicr, spoke so earnestly, so
winningly, in the interests of ** my gclls," that
one at least in that vast audience conceived a
lasting admiration for the great lady who was
so sweetly human.

That dialect is a power when deftly used no
one can deny. Whole pages of description will
not give so deep an insight into a human heart.

or conjure up so vivid a picture of stokdlty^
brutality, or ignorance, of self-sacrifice, simple
faith, or divine tenderness, as will the terse,
rugged sentences, ungrammatical, unrhetorical,
though they be : —

" Homely phrases, bat each letter
Full of hope, and yet of heartbreak ;
Full of all the tender patho*
Of the Here and the Hereafter."

Surely our literature is deep enough and
broad enough to admit the dialect story on an
equality with the "sweet, simple English of
Irving, and the straightforward, robust style of
Scott." A. Af. Jackson.

McAlbvv's Fokt, Peon.

YOU-UNS."

Please kindly inform Mary A. Denison,
through the pages of The Writer, that she is
very much mistaken, not to say unjust, in as-
serting that some one heard " youuns " uttered
" down in Louisiana," unless the expression
was used only as a quotation.

I was bom "down in Louisiana," spending
my early childhood in the southern portion, and
the past eighteen years in the northern part,
embracing three different parishes, and never
have 1 heard a native Louisianian, either black
or white, say •* youuns." A Georgian, who
lived in tins town several years ago, once ad-
mitted that he had heard the phrase used by the
illiterate of his state.

Accusing Louisianians of using vernacular
peculiar to another state, simply because both
are Southern, is as bad as saying that American
women are noted for their discordant voices,
when I venture to say that no other women in
the universe have softer or more melodious
voices in conversation than the women of the
South ; while the difference between the voice
of a Southern and a Northern woman is suffi-
ciently marked to enable a Southerner, blind-
folded, to select either one you designate as
soon as she speaks.

We Louisianians suffer enough from melted
snow and ice coming down upon us from the
Northern country, without the added injury of a
shower of Northern ink, following the lead of
such parasites as Cable and one or two others.

THE WRITER.

I could name, smirching what the overflow can-
not wipe out. Leo yenwyL

Tallulah, La.

QUERIES.

I wish to have a book for small children
published. It treats principally of animals,
written in the form of a story.

(i.) Where would you advise me to have
such a book published ?

( 2. ) What would you think to be the best
plan for a beginner in book-writing to follow ?
Sell the manuscript ?

(3.) I should like a few illustrations in it.
Do the publishers, or does the writer, attend to
this?

( 4. ) What size paper is it best to use ? and
liow is it best to send the manuscript, folded or
rolled .?

You find, from these questions, that this is
iny first attempt at book-writing, though I have
had several articles accepted by papers.

T. B. R.

[ ( I. ) No one can give any advice worth
having regarding publishers to whom it may
l)e best to submit a given manuscript without
£rst examining the manuscript. In a general
way, a list of publishers who have issued works
of the same class as that described might be
given, but probably more money would be ex-
pended for postage in using the list than The
Writer*s Literary Bureau would charge for
•examining the manuscript and giving the opin-
ion of an expert as to what publishers would
be most likely to want to issue it. It is gen-
erally economy for an inexperienced writer to
pay the reading fee of The Writer's Literary
Bureau, since by so doing he is likely to save
in postage more than the cost of the advice he
gets.

( 2. ) A beginner in book writing is fortunate
generally, if he can get his book published on
any terms, excepting at his own expense, —
•cither by selling the manuscript outright or on
a royalty arrangement.

( 3. ) The publisher of a book generally
provides for illustrations, the author, of course,
furnishing the requisite material, if desired.

( 4. ) For a book manuscript it is best to use
paper about 8x 10 inches in size, single sheets,
numbered consecutively at the top from title-
page to ** finis. " No manuscript should ever

be rolled, under any circumstances. A book
manuscript should be sent flat, tied between
two pieces of* stiff pasteboard cut to the size of
the paper, and wrapped in strong brown paper.
"T. B. R." will find many helpful suggestions
in back numbers of The Writer, and in
Luce's " Writing for the Press " ( $1.00 ), which
the Writer Publishing Company will send, post-
paid, on receipt of price. — w. H. H. ]

1 see that in your November issue you give
a rather unfavorable notice of Price's "Tech-
nique of the Drama." Will you kindly mention
some books written in English which you
think would be more helpful to a possible drar
matic author? E. H. H.

[ The most practical and helpful book for the
student of dramatic composition is "The Art
of Playwriting," by Alfred Hennequin. The
Writer Publishing Company will send a copy,
post-paid, on receipt of the publishers' price,
$1.00. Price's "Technique of the Drama" is
well worth studying, although it has the faults
that were pointed out in the review in the No-
vember Writer. In spite of its defects, it
contains many useful suggestions for the play-
wright. A few important practical hints are
given also in William H. Crane's article, "Play-
writing from the Actor's Point of View," in the
North American Review for September, which
The Writer Publishing Company will send on
receipt of fifty cents. — w. h. h.]

THE SCRAP BASKET.

In the prospectus of a literary paper recently
sent to me, it is stated that the periodical in ques-
tion " is edited with a single eye to the encour-
agement of good literature." If a "full pair"
of eyes cannot be employed in this work, would
it not be as well to speak of " an eye single " to
the good cause ? Br in ton W. Woodward.

Lawrbncr, Kan.

It may be of interest to the readers of The
Writer to know that the walls of the office of
the Department of Promotion and Publicity, in
the Administration Building at the Columbian
Exposition, were papered with the different
journals of the world. Quite artististic was the
result, too, the illustrated papers being grouped

The Writer.

29»

together, and a frieze and a dado being arranged,
with foreign languages and English mixed in
most-admired disorder. A. M. G.

Oak Park, 111.

Using editorial " declined-with-thanks" slips
as study wall paper is a good scheme, but I will
tell you what I am going to do : I am saving all
of such slips, and when editors are bowing in
the dust before me, begging the honor of ob-
taining my copy, I will write my best work on
the backs of those now dispiriting communica-
tions. I expect to have enough for the purpose
by that time. c. D. j.

Loaisiana.

_-♦

BOOK REVIEWS.

King's Handbook of Nbw Yo«k City. An Outline His-
tory of the American Metropolis Edited by Moses King ^
Second Edition. i,oo8 pp. Cloth, $2.00. Boston: Moses
King. 1893.

Just to look at the pictures in "King's Hand-
book of New York City " is almost as good as
a visit to New York. There are more than
1,000 of them in the book, and ihey are all half-
tone reproductions of excellent photographs,
taken expressly for this work. They give an
absolutely faithful idea of New York City as it
is to-day, even to picturing accurately the
throngs of people as they move about the
streets; for as the photographs are instantane-
ous, most of them are full of life. Without
going to New York, then, by the aid of Mr.
King's admirable book, one can get to know
the metropolis almost as well as the average
New Yorker does — even better, in some re-
spects, for the text gives accurate information
about the city in general, and about every
object of interest in it, that even well-informed
New Yorkers generally do not possess. The
text of the book is as good as the pictures, and
that is saying a great deal. It has been written
by many individuals, chief among whom was
M. F. Sweetser, and their manuscript has
undergone revision at the hands of several
thousand people, each an authority on the por-
tion submitted to him. Accuracy has thus
been assured, and the volume has been brought
absolutely up to date in all respects. Finally,
to make the book complete, there is an index of
twenty-four pages, containing 20,000 references,
so that every item of information in the work is
made instantly accessible. Altogether this
handbook justifies the claim made in the preface
to the Second edition, that it is "the hand-
somest, the most thorough, the largest, the
most costly, and the most profusely illustrated
book of its class ever issued for any city in the
world." Its success has been extraordinary.

The first edition of 10,000 copies was exhausted
in ten months. This second edition is practi-
cally a new book, nearly every text page having
been rewritten and reset, and about 300 new
engravings having been inserted. Every editor
and writer in the country needs to have a copy
of the book for reference. It contains every-
thing about New York tktat any one could want
to know. w. H. H.

Vick's Floral Guidb for 1894. iia pp. Paper, 10 cents.
Rochester, N. Y. : James Vick't Sons. 1894.

An annual publication which is watched for
with interest every year by lovers of flowers
and horticulture is " Vick's Floral Guide," the
1894 number of which has just appeared. The
new book is an improvement on the issues of
previous years. The cover design is an at-
tractive one, with a gold background, on which
is printed in colors a fine bunch of Vick's new
white branching aster, which when cut re-
sembles the chrysanthemum so closely that
only experts can tell the difference. It comes
into flower six weeks before the chrysanthe-
mum, and can easily be grown out of doors,
and the seeds cost only twenty-five cents a
packet. On the back of the cover is a picture
of the new double anemone, another attractive
novelty. The "Guide," as usual, is full of infor-
mation about seeds and flower-growing. Its
price, by the way, is deducted from the cost of
the first order for seeds received from the pur-
chaser. To editors the publishers make special
offers of prizes of $125, $75, $50, $25, $15, and
$10 for the best double-column advertisement
of from four to eight inches, and of $50, $25,
$15, and $10 for the best single-column adver-
tisement of from five to nine inches submitted
in print in some regular publication before
March lo, 1894. w. h. h.

Sir Francis Bacx)n's Ciphbr Story. Discovered and de-
ciphered by Orville W. Owen, M. D. 198 pp. Paper,.
50 cents. Detroit : Howard Publishing Company. 1893.

Dr. Owen asserts, and says that he has proved,
that Bacon was the author, not only of the plays
credited to Shakespeare, but those also of
George Peele, Christopher Marlowe, and Rob-
ert Greene, and of the works of Burton and
Spenser. Not only is this so. Dr. Owen savs,
but in all these works Bacon included, \y
means of a cipher, secret histories, including
the story of his own life, a translation of a con-
siderable part of Homer's " Iliad," and a gen-
eral history of England. According to this
cipher writing. Bacon was the son of Queen
Elizabeth and the Earl of Leicester by a secret
marriage ; he tells how Essex, his dearest
friend, was murdered at the command of the
queen, and how Elizabeth was strangled in her
bed by Robert Cecil, and relates other startling
occurrences not set down in ordinary history^
Dr. Owen avers that, having discoverea the exis-
tence of the cipher, he followed Bacon's direc-

1«

The Writer.

tions, and, dissecting a folio Shakespeare and
other works, placed the pages on a great wheel
to facilitate the work of thousands of shiftings
from passage to passage and from page to page.
As a result, he has written out, and is to publish,
several parts of Bacon's secret work, the first
book being that now before the public. After
all this work has been c^^mpleted, the key to the
cipher and the story of its discovery by Dr.
Owen are to be given in a final volume. Until
that is done, the ordinary reader will be in
doubt, probably, whether Dr. Owen is a ro-
mancer, a lunatic, or an immortal discoverer.
There is nothing in the book already published
that could not have been written iSy any ordi-
nary penny-a-liner. It does not seem reason-
able that a man having the transcendent ability
required to write all the works which Dr. Owen
says Bacon did write, in addition to those that
he is known to have written, should have taken
the trouble to set down in a most difficult cipher
such a dull and wordy work as the first section
of "Sir Francis Bacon's Cipher Story." Dr.
Owen declares that from first to last he has not
added or subtracted a word in putting on paper
Bacon's story as it came to him in the cipher,
so. that, if he tells the truth. Bacon must be
blamed for the lack of literary merit in the
recital. Until the decipherer shows the public
the process of deciphering, however, so that
people may judge for themselves whether the
work is his or Bacon's, it is only right and mer-
ciful that Sir Francis should be given all the
benefit of the doubt. w. h. h.

Lbttbks or Travbl. By Phillips Brooks. Edited by M. F.
B. 386pp. Qoth, $2.00. New York: £. P. Dutton &
Co. 1893.

These letters of travel of the late Bishop
Brooks show the great preacher in a new light.
They have been selected from his correspond-
ence with members of his family, and relate to
two journeys, of more than a year in duration,
taken in 1865-66 and in 1882-83, respectively, —
the former when he was rector of the Church
of the Holy Trinity, Philadelphia, the latter
when he was rector of Trinity Church, Boston,
— and to shorter summer trips, generally of
about three months in duration. As the pref-
ace says, " these letters of travel give an im-
portant chapter of his life that was always of
the greatest delight to him, and in which are
represented many of his most striking personal
characteristics. . . . The letters retain the fa-
miliar character which belonged to them as be-
ing intended for the members of his ownfamilv,
and they are thus enabled to convey not only
.an interesting story of travel, but also some-
thing of that personal charm, and ready wit,
and genial appreciation which those who were
mearest to him loved so well. In all these
.letters his nature will be seen in its sunniest

and most playful mood." The publishers ba¥«
issued the volume in a most attractive form.
It is sure to be a source of delight to every
reader and it is throughout a model in the art
of familiar letter-writing. w. H. H.

Baby^s Kingdom. Wherein may be chronicled as memoilet
for grown-up days the mother's story of the progress of th«
babv. Designed and illustrated by Annie F. Cox. FoU gilt
doth. $3.75. Boston : Lee & Shepard. 1893.

" Baby's Kingdom" is a very handsome and
attractive book to start with, and when it is
properly filled out, it is sure to be the most
interesting book in any mother's library. The
idea of a specially prepared book in which a
mother may keep a record of the events of a
baby's life is a very happy one, and such a
book, well-kept, is sure both to give pleasure to
the parents of the baby whose history is recalled
and to the baby also in after years. " Baby's
Kingdom " is well planned, and in every way
admirably adapted to its purpose. Suitable
blanks are provided for recording the date of
birth, gifts, the baby's weight at birth and at
the end of each month for the first year, the
christening, the baby's name, the baby's picture,
the baby's first tooth, first words, first birthday,
first step, first Christmas, Christmas gifts, etc.,
while there are plenty of blank leaves for a com-
plete record of important happenings. The
designing in the book is artistic, and the illus-
trative quotations :ire appropriate and interest-
ing. Altogether, *' Baby's Kingdom " is a model
book of its kind, and any mother will be fortu-
nate who becomes possessor of a copy.

Yf • H. H.

Sabbath Homhs. Thoughts by Liebman Adler. 338 pp.
Cloth. Philadelphia. The Jewish Publicatioa Sodetj of
America. 1893.

'* Sabbath Homes" contains fifty-four ser-
mons, one for each Sabbath in the year, with
two additional for leap years, all culled from
German sermons on texts from the Pentateuch
published by the late Rabbi Liebman Adler, of
Chicago. A sketch of the rabbi and an excep-
tionally fine frontispiece portrait of him are
included in the volume. w. h. h.

HELPFUL HINTS AND SUGGESTIONS.

To Remove Enclosures in Pasteboard
Rolls. — Few people seem to understand the
best way of removing a picture from a paste-
board mailing tube. If the tube is slit opeA
with a sharp knife, it cannot be used again, and
the picture inside is likely to be cut. The best
plan is, not to tear or cut the pasteboard, but to
insert the thumb and one or two fingers into it
so as to touch the contents on all sides ; then
to give a slight twist in ike directioH in which

The Writer.

4iu object is rolled^ which will loosen it, and
•enable it to be withdrawn. Any attempt to drag
or push it out without such a twist will only
tear it and make it hold tighter. Pasteboard
rolls are very useful for mailing unmounted
photographs or drawings accompanying manu-
scripts. The manuscripts themselves, however,
should never be mailed in them, or rolled in any
way. w. H. H.

Boston, Mass.

Old Envelopes for New Manuscripts. — I
^d envelopes that advertisements come in
better than " F. E. M.'s " tablet covers for keep-
ing loose leaves of manuscripts in order.

Loal«ana. ^ C. D. J.

To Save Manuscript Paper. — I am de-
lighted with a plan I have just adopted to save
manuscript paper. I rewrite so much that I
find that economy is necessary. I save all the
blank white paper that I can, such as backs of
letters, circulars, weather reports, etc., and, cut-
ting them to convenient size, stitch with sewing
machine across the top into packages of from
ten to fifteen sheets. On these I write my first
drafts;, and thus avoid the trouble of numbering
them as I go, and they are warranted to keep
together with any amount of careless handling.

Looisiana. C. D. J.

LITERARY ARTICLES IN PERIODICALS.

[The pnblisher of Thb Writbr will send to any address a
copy of any magazioe mentioned in the following reference list
on receipt of the price given in parenthesis following the name.
Readers who send to the publishers of the periodicals indexed
for copies containing the articles mentioned in the list will con-
fer a favor if they will mention Thb Writbr when they write.

Thb Russian Pbriodical Prbss. Victor Yarros. Chaw
iaaiftiaM (,2$ c. ) for February.

WoMBi* IN Washington as Nbwspapbr Corrbspond-
bnts. Cynthi& E. Cleveland. CAa«i!aM/Ma« (25 c. ) for Feb-
ruary.

From Litbraturb to Music. B. J. Lang. AilatUic
< 35 c ) for February.

Thb Educational Law op Rbading and Writing.
Horace E. Scudder. Atlantic ( 35 c. ) for February.

English Litbraturb of thb Victorian Agb. Frederic
Harrison. Forum ( 25 c. ) for February.

LouiSB Chandlbr Moulton. With portrait. LUtrary
Wtekly ( 10 c ) for January 18.

Woman in Journalism. Mrs. Frank Leslie. LiUraty
Wttkly ( 10 c ) for January 18.

PRorsssoR JowBTT. Reprinted from Tem/U Bar va Lii-
MlTt Lming^ Ag€ (18 c.) for January 6.

David Starr Jordan. With portrait. Protaesor M. B.
Anderson. Popular Science Monthly ( 50 c. ) for February.

Small Papers for Amateurs and Others. Priniart^
Ivh ( 10 c. ) for January 24.

On Certain Tendencies in American Litbraturb.
Walter Blackburn Harte. Worthinglfin's Magazifte ( 25 a )
for February.

Some Notes on thb Illuminated Books op thb Mid*
dle Ages. William Morris. Illustrated. Magazine qf Art
( 35 c. ) for February.

How Great Newspapers Arb Printed. Isabel Ames.
Illustrated. Demoresi's Family Magazine ( 20 c. ) for Feb-
ruary.

Professor Tyndall. Illustrated. DemoresCe Famifgt
Magazine ( 20 c. ) for Februiuy.

The Lowell Memorial in Westminster Abbey. Ad-
dress of Leslie Stephen at the unveiling in the chapter-house,
November 26, 1893. Harper* s IVeekly ( 10 c. ) for January 6.

Mrs. Emma D. E. N. Southworth. With portrait. Chi-
cago Graphic ( 10 c. ) for January 6.

Hbnrik Idsbn. With portrait. Chicago Graphic ( 10 c. )
for January 13.

Susan Elston Wallace. Mary H. Krout. Heurper't
Bazar ( 10 c. ) for January 13.

My Literary Passions. William D. Howells. Ladies^
Home Journal ( 10 c. ) for February.

The Scien'ce and the Art of Dramatic Expression.
Alice Wellington Rollins. LippincotCs (25 c. ) for February.

Have Young Writers a Chance? Lippincotft (25c)
for February.

Robert Lowe as a Journalist. A. Patchett Martin.
Reprinted from National Review in LitielVs Living Age
( 18 c. ) for January 20.

The Cradle of the Lake Poets. William Connor
Sydney. Reprinted from Blackwood's Magazine in LUieWe
Living Age ( 18 c. ) for January 20.

Matthew Arnold. Leslie Stephen. Reprinted from
National Review in LitteWt Living Age (18 c.) for Janu-
ary 13.

An English Dictionary op thb Days of King Jambs
THE First. Reprinted from Leisure Hour in LitteWs Living
Age ( t8 c. ) for January 13.

F. H. Underwood. With portrait. Literary Weekly
( to c ) for January 1 1.

Edward Bellamy. With portrait. Literary Weekly
( 10 c. ) for January 4.

Mrs. Isabel A. Mallon ( " Bab '' ). With portrait
Journalist ( 10 c ) for January ao.

How Not to Succeed as a Writbr. Annie Isabel
Willis. Journalist ( 10 c. ) for January 20.

Mrs. Lydia Hoyt Farmer. Charles Ritch J<du>soa.
Journalist ( 10 c. ) for January 20.

NEWS AND NOTES.

The twenty-second short-story prize offer
made by the editor of Short Stories is of $50,
$30, and $20, respectively, for the three " best
stories," irrespective of subject, sent in before
March i, 1894.

The name of the Weekly youmalist of Bos*
ton has been chan>;ed to the Literary Weekly,

THE Writer.

The Arena (Boston) hereafter will contain
monthly 144 pages instead of 128, making it the
largest monthly review published. The Febru-
ary number contains 164 pages.

Dr. Holmes has a poem in memory of Francis
Parkman in the February Atlantic,

Book sales in Chicago are said to amount to
$3,000,000 a year.

Babyhood {^t^ York) is one of the few peri-
odicals that have a distinct and unique field,
and that fill it completely in all respects. To
mothers it is an indispensable monthly cyclo-
paedia of information about child life, and there
is not a number that is not full of practical
hints to young mothers. Babyhood is scientific,
as well as popular, and its useful teachings
have undoubtedly improved and saved many
children's lives.

Afunson^s Phonographic News and Teacher —
indispensable, by the way^ to all students of
Munson's system of shorthand — reprints in
phonographic characters in its January number
the article on " Shorthand as a Help in Liter-
ary Work" by Edward L. Martin, first pub-
lished in the December Writer.

The Critic ( New York ) has begun its four-
teenth year. During 1893 it contained 850
pages of reading matter — 100 pages more than
in the preceding year. More than 1,500 books
were reviewed. The publication of illustrations
was resumed, more than 125 pictures, large and
small, being printed during the twelvemonth.
A Chicago letter was added, so that weekly
correspondence is now published from London,
Boston, and Chicago.

Ernest F. Birmingham, of New York City,
will begin about February 1 5 the publication of
The Fourth Estate, a class journal, to be de-
voted to the interests of the makers of news-
papers.

Kenyon West, whose home is in Rochester,
N. Y., is a writer whose literary reputation is
constantly extending. He has contributed to
the Independent, the Chautauquan, the Ex-
aminer, the Andover Review, the Literary
World, the Century, the New England, and
other magazines articles of a critical nature,
and to these and others many articles of a more
general interest.

Owen Wister, the author of " How Lin
McLean Went East," " Em'ly," and other
stories, has been spending the late autumn and
early winter in Arizona collecting material for
a new series of Western tales, which will ap-
pear during the year in Harper* s.

In her article, " A Menace to Literature," itt
the North American Review for February,.
Margaret Deland says : " It is surely time that
authors looked for a moment beyond the pleas-
ant haze of flattery with which personal journal-
ism surrounds them, to see the indignity which
is done their art, and the vulgarity which at-
taches to their characters."

Peterson's Magazine for February has a
frontispiece portrait of Mignon Villars, accom-
panying her story, " The One Event of Monans-
Sartoux."

"Afterthoughts of a Story Teller" is the
title of a paper by George W. Cable in the
North American Review for January. In it
Mr. Cable takes the reader into his confidence
as to the methods he has followed in writing
his most popular novels.

Brentano's Book Chat has been discontinued,,
and its subscription list will be filled by the
Literary News.

Herbert Bashford and Lee Fairchild, the
young and gifted Puget Sound poets, are giving
readings from their poems with flattering suc-
cess.

Bertha M. Rickoff, whose able papers in the
Forum have attracted much attention, is living
at present at Anacortes, Washington.

Louise Herrick Wall is a daughter of Chris-
tine Terhune Herrick, and a granddaughter of
Marion Harland. Her visit to a logging-camp
in the deep fir solitudes of Washington was de-
lightfully described in a recent number of the
Atlantic Monthly. She lives at Aberdeen,
Washington.

Carrie Blake Morgan lives in picturesque
Portland, Oregon. Several of her poems have
appeared in Lippincott^s Magazine this year.
She is a contributor to the New Peterson, the
Ladies'* Home yournal, the Calif ornian, the
Overland, the Youth's Companion, Leslie's
Weekly, and other publications.

The

Writer:

A MONTHLY MAGAZINE TO INTEREST AND HELP ALL LITERARY WORKERS,

Vol. VIL

BOSTON, MARCH, 1894.

No. 3.

Entered at the Boston Post-office as second-class mail matter.

CONTENTS : pagb

"Othb« Stories." K. L. Johmton 33

Shbllby and Vbgbtarianism. Kenyan iVett. ... 34
A Plba for thb Nkglbctbd Rhbtorical Poor. R,

Macdonald Alden 38

Thb " Days of ChildoCracy " in Litbbaturb. Pamela

McArthurCoU 39

Arb Editors to Blamb? Edward L. IVhite. ... 41

Editorial 4»

A Big Sheet of Paper, 42 — Effect of the Hard Times

on Writers 42

QUBRIBS 43

Th« Scrap Baskbt 44

Thb Use and Misusb of Words 44

The Birthday Question 44

Book Rbvibws 44

Hblpful Hints and Suggbstions 46

Printed Noteheads for Authors, 46— A Chatelaine

Note-book 46

LlTKRARY ArTICLBS IN PERIODICALS 4^

Nbws and Notbs 47

OTHER STORIES."

( The embryo genius from whose diary this
episode is taken merely stipulated that his
name was n't to be used. He made no condition
concerning the other embryo's name^ but the
present chronicler has a conscience — or believes
so.)

I was spending a most enjoyable evening in
mj^wn society when Travers added himself
to the company. I made room for his feet also
on the table, and said resignedly : —

" If youVe got a new idea, Travers, stow it
till IVe finished this cigar, please."

"Sha'nH," he responded, lighting his own.
** Too good to keep." I have heard somewhere
of the " pure passionless curiosity of the man of

science " — that must have been what prompted
me to tell him to go on. One might consider
Travers as a psychological study, you know.

" It's a book," he further informed me.

"You waste a good deal of time in unneces-
sary statements."

"Oh, I don't know: it might have been a
poem, or a new magazine. But it's this way.
How many books have you seen entitled, say,
» Mary, and Other Stories ' ? "

" I think about a million," I said, thought-
fully.

"Yes, so have I. That makes two million.
You know I've never published any of my short
stories in the magazines ? "

"Magazines did n't want them.?" I queried,
with the sympathy born of experience.

" Don't know, I'm sure. The magazines are
like Jess Logan and her cloak — they no' got a
chance of no' wanting them. They were n't
good enough to send." I gazed on him in
silent admiration.

" No," he went on; "but I've always wanted
to write . a story, you know." I knew. I had
heard of that story at all sorts of uncanny
hours — the times Travers- usually grew confi-
dential — for more than six years.

" Yes. Got your inspiration at last ? ''

" Not in the least," with a sigh. " It's merely
a case of wresting victory from defeat, don't
you know. I'm not going to try to capture
that yarn any longer, but I've got one or two
other ideas that I can make good second-class
stories of."

" Yes," said his one hearer, quite soberly.

" Second-class for me, I mean, old man," he
amended quietly. " You see " — he took his feet
off the table, and, leaning forward, looked into
the fire — the implication being that it would n't

The Writer.

[ 1 1

rt
t

•i

tell him he couldn't write second-class stories.
"You see — well, take a simile. If one had a
pearl necklace, you know, fine pearls, but with
one missing, the — what do you call it, the big
one that comes in front — he'd be inclined to
sulk. Now, if you laugh, I'll tell all the bores
I know what good cigars you keep.'*

" Nevertheless, you mean to string the other
pearls without the big fellow ? "

" Yes, publish a collection of short stories,
and call it 'Other Stories.' See.^ And I'd
work off a semi-pathetic preface, signed with
initials, on the confiding public, explaining."

" That would h^ interesting."

"Thank you. Sort of suggesting that I'd
missed the jewel of my artistic life, as a fellow
sometimes misses the — what he wants most
in other things." I nodded. "Then I'd amble
on, ' When the glamour gets off life, and we set-
tle down to enjoy it or endure it, as our luck
happens to be, we see grace in the before-unen-
durable " second best." Youth's haughty " All
or Nothing " gives place to a saner and sadder
motto, and, when we would offer a gift, we give,
as I do now, not what we would, but what we
have.' See, old man ? "

" Yes ; * to-day my queen of beauty is not

here.'"

"Thanks — yes. I'd have to work up to
that by something which would leave the infer-
ence plain that * today' meant my present

threescore years and ten — that my queen of
beauty had missed landing in the same genera-
tion with me — not saying it in so many words,
of course. The whole preface must be a ming-
ling of graceful reserve and pathetic straight-
forwardness that will catch *the youngest
critic' "

"Great game, literature," I said, reflectively,
after a moment's pause ; but Travers and the
fire were already busy on that masterpiece of a
preface.

( A week later.)

Met Travers to-day, and was surprised to see
him looking dissatisfied with Fate.

" Preface gone on strike ? " I asked, sym-
pathetically.

"Yes, whole thing gone on strike. I've been
trying all the week to work out one or other of
my stories, and I can't think of a single thing
but — "

" Well ? "

" But the story I wasn't going to write."

"Whv not write that, then? You've been
wanting to for six years or more?" It took
this idea fully thirty seconds to reach Travers'
intelligence. Then he glowed with gratitude.

"Why, of course; thank you, old boy; of
course, I can ; I never thought of that."

K. L. yohnston,

Toronto, Ont.

SHELLEY AND VEGETARIANISM.

■ri

:!i

There is no subject of more vital importance
to the man of letters than the care of his physi-
cal health. Regular habits of work and rest;
proper clothing; the use of such desks and
chairs as help him to withstand the natural
tendency to stoop ; wisdom in diet ; systematic
exercise; good ventilation, and all such things
are to him matters of the greatest moment. 1
wish to speak especially of one phase of this
subject, and that is wisdom in diet. After all
IS said that can be said in regard to the value
of different foods, it will be found that the bal-

ance of proof is on the side of a mixed diet for
man. The assertion that extreme vegetarian-
ism, "the potato gospel," as Carlyle callQ|fiit,
is detrimental to the welfare of the race re-
ceives added emphasis when we begin to look
at the historical aspects of the question. And
this is especially the case when we study the
life-record of the great poet whose centenary
occurred recently. I cannot better enforce my
plea for care and wisdom in the choice of food
than by a reference to Shelley. His^ life is full
of lessons for every poet, novelist, or jour-

The Writer.

cialist who reads the pages of The Writer.

The whole character of the celebration of
Shelley's birth proved that he has taken an
abiding place both in English literature and
in the hearts of the English people. One form
which that celebration assumed was of an un-
usual nature. On a Saturday evening many
notable men of letters in London sat down to a
banquet in the poet's honor. The feast of
reason and the flow of soul were the most im-
portant elements of this princely festival. It is
perhaps possible that the philosophers present
fared well in other respects, but the food was
wholly of vegetable products, — no meats, no
■game, no fish found favor with the guests. The
speeches were brilliant and enthusiastic, tinged
^ith the most aggressive and democratic
thought of the age. The hero of the evening
was extolled. His work as a poet received
many just and beautiful tributes, and in har-
mony with the belief of those present, all the
poet's excellences were attributed to his aver-
sion to the fleshly morsels that have not been
disdained by other poets.

Now, Shelley was undoubtedly one of the
greatest lyrical poets of the world. There was
a personal charm and magnetism about him
which fascinated all who knew him well, and
even now, so many years since his mortal part
vanished from sight in that treacherous storm
•on an Italian sea, the mere mention of his name
has power. But there were many things about
Shelley which at first seem totally at variance
^with his unselfish, pure, and gracious character.
It cannot be denied that he sometimes disre-
garded the strict truth ; that he was subject to
delusions; that his views of duty and of per-
sonal obligation were sometimes strange and
perverted ; that he was changeable, inconstant,
and erratic ; impulsive and visionary, often pro-
posing reforms which had no practical value,
and writing poetry as unsubstantial as the rose
and violet-tinted clouds. It is true that, after
all is said against Shelley that can be said, it
will be found that the balance upon which good
and evil rest dips far down on the side which
^ont^ns the qualities which win our admiration
and respect. And yet is it not reasonable to
.assume that the poet's physical condition was
the primary cause of many of his most startling

idiosyncrasies.'^ He was blessed or cursed
( whichever way we look at the matter ) with a
peculiarly sensitive, nervous temperament; was
subject to rapt, excited moods when his mind
hovered dangerously on the verge which sepa-
rates perfect sanity from its opposite ; and he
sufEered constantly from illness and pain. Is it
unreasonable to assert that Shelley's physical
and intellectual condition, if not directly depend-
ent upon, was largely influenced by his pecu-
liar diet ?

It was not until he left Oxford that Shelley
became a strict vegetarian, though from his
youth he strongly objected to the shedding of
the blood of beast or bird for the purpose of
obtaining food. His mother, perhaps to
harden him, insisted on his fishing in the
streams of his native Sussex ; but the imagina-
tive and poetic boy, who much preferred a soli-
tary walk under the stars, or a row in his boat
accompanied only by books, certainly not fish-
ing lines or hooks, often took the gamekeeper
with him on the expeditions planned by his
mother. Shelley would sit in his boat and read
while the gamekeeper fished for him. The
spoil would be given to Mrs. Shelley afterward
as the product of her son's industry. Later, in
his Oxford vacations, he hunted to some extent,
but this was also owing to outward pressure,
not to any sanguinary propensities.

We see the good effects of Shelley's mixed diet
at Oxford in his, for him, vigorous health. He
was not troubled by the nervous excitement
which was so conspicuous later, nor was he
haunted by those strange hallucinations which
perplex his different biographers. But Shel-
ley's favorite food was, at all times, bread. It
seemed as if he could live on that alone, without
complaint or weariness. Sometimes in walking
through the crowded streets of London, he
would rush away from his companion's side,
dart into a baker's shop, thence emerge with a
loaf under his arm, from which he would, as he
walked, break off pieces, not only to eat him-
self, but to offer to his friend. If the offer
were declined, he was both perplexed and sur-
prised.

" Do you know," he said one day to Hogg,
" such a one does not like bread."

In Shelley's pockets would usually be found

The Writer.

the fragments of a loaf, and Hogg tells how a
circle upon the carpet, clearly defined by an
ample verge of crumbs, often marked the place
where he had long sat at his studies, his face
nearly in contact with his book, greedily
devouring bread at intervals amidst his pro-
found abstractions.

Shelley ate with great relish a queer mixture
of bread and boiling water called "Panada."
The bread was steeped in the hot water, then
squeezed, and sprinkled with nutmeg and sugar.
Tea remained Shelley's favorite to the very end
of life. In his famous " Letter to Maria Gis-
borne," that poem written in a style which
Shelley adopted nowhere else, he speaks of
tea as

" The liquor doctors rail at, and which I
Will quaff in spite of them ; and when we die
We'll toss up who died first of drinking tea,
And cry out, * Heads or tails ?' where'er we be.

After Shelley became wholly converted to
vegetarianism, he looked back with horror upon
his occasional indulgence at Oxford in a glass
or two of negus. " I ought to have been shot
for it," he says. At Newton*s charming vege-
table dinners, even the water had to be distilled
before it could be drunk; but when Shelley
dined in his own house, we fear that Harriet
Westbrook was scarcely a careful enough
housekeeper to attend to this important matter
of distillation.

Dowden says that when the physiology of the
poets has been studied we shall perhaps know
why Wordsworth and Shelley were water-
drinkers ; why Keats loved an exquisite claret ; '
why Southey soothed himself to sleep with a
tumbler of domestic currant rum; why Byron
in his later days craved the more fiery and
fiercer stimulants.

Soon after Shelley's marriage he became a
vegetarian. Occasional lapses into his former
habits are recorded. He never was under oath
to abstain entirely from meats, but, on the
whole, his life was modelled according to the
simpler principles which were with him instinc-
tive. " You do not know," wrote Harriet to
Miss Kitchener, " that we have foresworn meat
and adopted the Pythagorean system. We are
delighted with it and think it the best thing in
the world." But the new converts were neither

narrow nor intolerant. When a certain friend
came soon afterward to talk with Bysshe and
Harriet about virtue, they did not scruple to set
before her at dinner " a murdered fowl."

But alas, alas ! for the housekeeping of poor
Harriet Shelley! It is really surprising that
Shelley waited till 1814 before he wrote a poem
about his sad and silent home, his desolated
hearth. Even a poet must eat, and should he
believe that he must eat only vegetables or
cereals, there is all the more reason that they
shall be prepared so that he may become
healthy, even if he cannot become wealthy or
wise. It taxed Hogg's patience to dine with
the Shelleys, and long years afterward the
memory of those dinners remained with hin>
like a nightmare. They would, indeed, make
concessions to his coarser taste and place be-
fore him meats or fish, but oh, how atrociously
cooked they were ! If it were proposed to
Shelley that he should order dinner, he stood
aghast in speechless trance; when recovered
from the outrage to his feelings, "Ask Har-
riet," he would cry, with a desponding, suppli-
cating mien. The good Harriet herself was no
proficient in the culinary art. " Whatever yovt
please," was her ordinary answer.

"* Whatever you please* did not produce a
dainty menu. ... A leg of coarse mutton boiled
to rags with half-raw turnips. ... I dropped
a hint about a pudding," continues Hogg, " but
Bysshe said dogmatically : * A pudding is a
prejudice.*" When supper time arrived the
only resource these three unfortunate people
had against total starvation was the baker's-
shop.

"We will have some muffins and crumpets
for tea,** the famished Harriet would say.

"They will butter them,** Bysshe would
exclaim, in a voice thrilling with horror. In
that case comfort was sought in a supply of
penny buns.

" Get a shilling's worth of penny buns, Bysshe,'*^
said Harriet.

" He would rush out with incredible alacrity^
like a wind god,'* says Hogg, " and return in an
instant with the bag of buns, open at the top, in
his hand.*'

That Shelley lost so little time in obeying his
wife's orders proves that the poet, who, when

The Writer.

tinder the dominion of the ideal, lived upon
political justice and ^Utiring theories, and as-
serted that a pudding was a prejudice, had
yet, under the pressure of hunger, to acknowl-
edge the terrible power of the material.
There are other interesting cases where Shel-
ley's dominant idealism was forgotten under
the pressure of a quite natural and excusable
hunger. When he aroused Mrs. Southey's
ire by despising the tea cakes her husband was
enjoying with so much relish, Shelley did not
really know how good they were. After he
himself had devoured plate after plate of these
same cakes he had to return home and tell
Harriet with a burst of enthusiasm that they
must have tea cakes in their menage forever.
Could Mrs, Southey have foreseen how this act
of Shelley's was to render famous her house-
wifely skill, she might have been less angry
with the poor, blundering poet.

Once Shelley so far forgot Pythagoras as to
partake largely of eggs and bacon at a country
inn, after a long tramp over the hills. At first
Jie refused to taste the dish ordered by his
companion, but the delectable aroma penetrated
his senses and he began with a small portion
held on the end of his fork. He found it good,
and so he attacked the plate, then called in the
waiter and ordered more. He repeated this
till the despondent waiter had to inform him
that there remained no more bacon in the house.
Thereupon the poet left in haste, informing
Harriet on his return home that they must have
eggs and bacon henceforth forever.

In 1813 Shelley published that eloquent plea
on behalf of "Vegetarianism, — A Vindication
of Natural Diet."

It is just to remember that Shelley was very
impractical. He totally disregarded times and
seasons, for he took no thought of dinner-hours,
would eat only when he was hungry, and then,
as Trelawny says, would eat much as the birds
do, if he saw something edible lying about.
Shelley's individual case cannot, therefore, be
•cited as an argument either for or against vege-
tarianism. His case proves only that when he
yielded to natural impulses and indulged in a
liberal mixed diet, his health certainly im-
jproved. He wrote to Godwin that his physical
«condition was such that he could not hope for a

long life. He spoke of his nervousness, of his
being at the age of nineteen affected by any
slight fatigue, and so he said he must husband
his powers. But he really seemed to have very
little wisdom in lys care of his personal welfare.
A few years afterward he wrote to Leigh Hunt
that he suffered as much as ever from the pain
in his side ; " but do not mention this," he said,
•* for the advocate of a new system of diet is
held bound to be invulnerable by disease."

It would be, of course, absurd to attribute
the sensitiveness of Shelley's imagination to
the fact that he was a vegetarian and a water-
drinker. But a careful study of his biography
will show that his natural sensitiveness was much
intensified by his disregard of the simplest laws
of hygiene ; that he was the freest from strange
delusions and thrilling fancies when his friends
took him in hand and reminded him of the
claims of his physical nature. When he started
out on that famous excursion to explore the
source of the Thames, Shelley was weak and
pale, but after he had been for some time on the
water Charles Clairemont wrote to his sister
that there was a remarkable change in the man-
ner and in the appearance of the poet. ** He
has now the ruddy, healthy complexion of the
autumn upon his countenance, and he is twice
as fat as he used to be." Peacock attributed
the change to the fact that he became Shelley's
physician for the time and prescribed a salutary
change in his diet. ** He had been living
chiefly on tea and bread and butter, drinking
occasionally a sort of spurious lemonade, made
of some powder in a box, which, as he was
reading at the time * The Tale of a Tub,' he
called the powder of pimperlimpimp." Shelley
seemed quite willing to take what Peacock told
him to — three mutton chops, well peppered.
Other good things followed in the wake of
these honest, well-disposed chops, and he began
to be quite a different man.

We see the fine result of Shelley's restored
health and of the manifold impressions derived
from the beautiful scenery he witnessed during
this wonderful journey in that great poem
" Alastor." Here Shelley, for the first time,
showed the hand of the master.

In the last year of his life Shelley appeared
to Trelawny to be strong and vigorous. But

The Writer.

Trelawny, as well as Hogg, bore witness to
the fact that the poet forgot his physical claims
in his devotion to books, in his zeal, his enthu-
siasm.

" I called on him one mornipg at ten," says
Trelawny. ** He was in his study with a folio
open, resting on the broad mantelpiece. He
had promised to go with me, but now he begged
to be let off. I then rode to Leghorn, and re-
turned in the evening to dine with the Shelleys.
I went into the poet's room and found him in
exactly the same position in which I had left
him in the morning, but looking pale and ex-
hausted.

" * Well,* I said, * have you found it ? '

" Shutting the book, he replied with a deep
sigh, * No, I have lost it, — I have lost a day.'

" * Cheer up, my lad, and come to dinner,'
said I.

" Putting his long fingers through his masses
of hair, he answered faintly, * You go ; I have
dined, — late eating does n't do for me.'

" *What is this ? ' I asked, as I was going out
of the room, pointing tor one of his bookshelves-
with a plate upon it.

" * That,' — coloring, — * why, that must be
my dinner. It's very foolish. I thought that
I had eaten it.' "

It is, therefore, not surprising that with such
habitual carelessness, taken in connection with^
his peculiar temperament and frail constitution^
the poet should have been afflicted during those
last days at Casa Magni with especially fright-
ful visions when asleep, and strange fancies o£
impending doom, even in his waking hours.

It is said that Tennyson once tried to follow
in the footsteps of Shelley, but his enthusiasn>
for the potato gospel quickly passed away. For
ten weeks, he said, he tried Edward Fitzger-
ald's " table of Pythagoras, but felt so chilled
on the half- spiritual height to which he had
been exalted that he was glad to get down and
taste flesh again." Kenygn West.

ROCHBSTBR, N. Y.

A PLEA FOR THE NEGLECTED RHETORICAL POOR.

Great men and great issues always receive
their share of attention, and do not need tp
have their rights upheld by others ; while small
matters may have to go begging for want of a
friend to point out their neglected condition.
This is true not only in social and moral life,
but also in grammatical and rhetorical regions.
Nouns and verbs, plots and characterization,
are always sure of polite consideration ; but
small parts of speech, and the small assistants
of speech, are not so likely to be respected.
Hence I would utter a plea for the more com-
monly neglected rhetorical poor.

The first class of these is that of conjunctions.
Writers do not realize what a work these small
creatures could do if they were only encouraged.
Emerson usually forgot their existence, and the
holes in his essays which ought to have been

filled by them must always be encountered"..
More commonly the wrong ones are called
upon, and have to fill posts the duties of which
they cannot perform. How often a dark para-
graph would be illuminated if the " buts," and
**ands," and "fors" might exchange places T
When the careful reader comes to a " but," he
takes a mental jump to the other side of the
road which he has been travelling, and if, whei>
he has reached it, he finds that he is on the
opposite side from the train of thought, he is
likely not only to be disgusted, but frequently to-
miss the train altogether.

Of a still lower social order, and far more
flagrantly neglected, is the race of punctuation-
marks. Here the poor printers have to make
sure that there are no blank spaces, but fre-
quently the selection of officiating marks is lefft

The Writer.

to them, and when it is not, the result may be
no better. No one who reads many letters or
manuscripts fails to observe that the average
penman has one or (when unusually extrava-
gant) two mysterious hieroglyphics at his com-
mand, which are brought out whenever a punc-
tuation mark is called for, and warranted to
defy investigation as to which particular point
they represent. It is the intellectual connec-
tion of these neglected creatures which makes
them of importance ; and it is hard to see how a
writer can have proper commas and semi-colons
in his brains, if they do not demand to be repre-
sented on paper. Just as a good reader will
take a mental jump at sight of a " but," so he
will assume the proper attitude when com-
manded by a punctuation mark. A comma
tells him to keep moving, but if he finds no
adjoining phrase whither he can move, the sen-
sation is the same a§ when one tries in the dark
to step up to an extra stair which is not there.
Nearly allied to these families of the neg-
lected poor are the Paragraphs, and ( in techni-
cal works ) the paragraph numbers and headings.

One cannot help thinking that these matters
also are left largely to the compositor or proof-
reader, when he considers the dismembered
ideas, mutilated arguments, and cruelly sepa-
rated families of sentences which lie pitifully
scattered on the pages of literature. These
things are not unimportant; these neglected
poor, like all neglected poor, throw curses after
those who pass them by. Every one knows
what an efEect Dickens could produce by the
sudden use of a capital letter, and how De
Maupassant's paragraphing sometimes tells
more than his words. Every student, at least,
knows how he is forced to go through text-
books and make for himself abstracts of their
contents, because the authors seem blissfully
ignorant of the fact that their ideas have lawful
and orderly connection with one another.

The moral whereof is this : All )'e who write,
think on the poor, whom ye have always with
you in dictionary and grammar, ready to give
help in return for consideration, and to bring
rhetorical blessings to their friends.

Philadelphia, Penn. -/?• Macdonald A Iden.

THE "DAYS OF CHILDOCRACY" IN LITERATURE.

In one of those pleasant New England stories
by Miss Sedgwick, whose village sketches de-
lighted readers of a past generation, the crisis
for which lovers of the romantic are looking is
assisted by the comments and criticisms of a
little girl. Alice is what it is now fashionable to
call in French, un enfant terrible^ — better
known in New England vernacular as " a hateful
child." The author says : " F. was evidently
becoming annoyed with the little girl's sallies,
— I dare not say impertinences, — and who
dares to check a child in these days of childoc-
racy ? "

Presumably a word of the author's own coin-
ing, and open to criticism as not formed accord-
ing to the acknowledged rules of word building,
perhaps never used again, *' childocracy " is yet

the expressive name of a form of authority well
known as far back as the days of Themistocles.

The lament over the follies of children and
the errors of parents is nothing new, — lovers of
the old times (always the "good" old times)
did, and do, and will grieve over the want
of judgment and the decay of discipline;
but these are questions for educators, — the
writer may look with interest on the "days
of childocracy " in literature.

In ancient writings, children make but small
appearance. Virgil gives them no place in the
Elysian Fields, but the first sounds that reached
the ear of Eneas in his visit to the under-world
were the wail of little children, and next — sug-
gestive order — arose the cries of those, c^"^
demned her^ lo 2ccv >3lxv\\vsX ^^^JC^«

THE WRITER.

Occasionally those "human buds of prom-
ise " are mentioned in letters or epitaph in lov-
ing words, — but it was reserved for Christianity
to give them a place and a character.

In modern days, till recently, the "grown-
ups" had literature generally to themselves;
but now children, from the baby, ignorant of
letters, to those standing

" Where the brook and river meet,

»»

all have their own books, their history, their
poetry, their magazines, their novels. The stiff
little mortals of the juvenile books of an earlier
generation have gone, passed on to the " Land
of the Hereafter," following their grown-up
friends in hoop-skirts and wigs, and in the
nursery literature of to-day we have many of
the genuine children of modern time, the
slangy, the fun-loving, the careless, and the
thoughtful; and although the former type, "too
good for this world," does now and then appear,
it is not, of necessity, destined to an early grave.

But the precocious child of to-day's stories
usually appears in the guise of a preternaturally
sharp business character, all whose ventures
prosper, and who, by the mysterious exercise of
some talent hitherto unsuspected by unobserv-
ant relatives, lifts mortgages from the home-
stead, and surprises care-worn relatives and
perplexed guardians with bank books and gov-
ernmtmt bonds.

Many children's books are written too obvi-
ously with a purpose. A writer on education
recommends that a desire for the comfort and
welfare of the children of a family should
underlie all the arrangements made by the
adults. Only those guests should be invited
whose manners would furnish worthy example,
whose conversation would be instructive. No
books unsuitable to the young should be
broui^ht into the house, whatever may be the
temptation to the elders, — yet, though this
thought should be the moving spring of action,
the children themselves should never be allowed
to suspect that they were of so much import-
ance. The first object of thought, the main-
spring by which all the domestic machinery is
moved, is to be perfectly ignorant of the moving
influence ! Apparently the writer is not familiar
with '' little men and women," at least it is evi-

dent that, though she may not over-rate their
importance, she at least undervalues their
intelligence.

But, however it may be in life, whether they
are, or are not, the first object of thought, it is
often in books not written for them, but where
they take a subordinate place, that the most in-
teresting children are found. To mention
a few among many: who more interesting
among Sir Charles Danvers' friends than little
Molly, who sympathized so tenderly with the
disappointed uncle's aching heart? — she had
felt just so herself — "it was the little green
pears." Who would willingly part with Mary
Fenwick's little friends ? How the light of the
story goes out with Gill's short life !

What delightful children appear in Howells'
stories. In his "Indian Summer" is either
Imogen or her rival as charming as Effie? I
suspect many a reader is better pleased with
the autumnal romance as securing to Effie the
father she would so gladly have chosen, than
as giving back the old lover to her mother.

But no hand is more skilful in depicting chil-
dren than that of Hawthorne. Witness the
tender touches qi little Annie's ramble, of the
gentle boy, the living flowers of Tanglewood,
listening to those old tales that have charmed
the Earth since the days of her own babyhood.
The children of his books are genuine flesh and
blood, full of childhood's pranks and capers, yet
not devoid of that insight which belongs of
right to those who had not

" Forgot the glones he hath known,
And that imperial palace whence he came.**

What an idea he suggests of the grim lives of
the adults when he shows us the little Bos-
tonians disporting themselves in the street,
" playing at scourging Quakers, scalping In-
dians, or in freaks of imitative witchcraft."
Enthusiastic admirers of the olden time have
questioned the probability of such amusements,
but we are told in the sober pages of history
that when the heresies of Mistress Hutchinson
had shaken all the colony, the children entered
with a zeal worthy of their elders into the con-
test, and squabbled with their comrades over
the questions of works and faith. Small won-
der if in play they imitated the most impressive
scenes of the time.

The Writer.

Poor Miss Pyncheon's voracious customer,
Ned Higgins, who made his own small person
;a menagerie of gingerbread animals, is a child
-of prose, a sharp urchin of the street. But
none excels the portraiture of little Pearl,
sweet as the rose, changeable as the wind, now
iloving and consoling, now probing with her

baby-touch the darkest and deepest mysteries
of her mother's heart, charming, but weird and
uncanny, as befitted one who " owed her exis-
tence to a broken law."

Pamela Mc Arthur Cole.

East Bridcbwatbr, Mass. '

ARE EDITORS TO BLAME?

" He didn't read my manuscript at all ! " ex-
•claims the author, whose " valued contribution "
has been declined with thanks so promptly that
the contributor feels more deeply aggrieved
than if the editor had kept the manuscript for
months.

" Well, why should he ? " a more experienced
contributor might ask. " Of course, it is gener-
ally understood that he can use unsolicited
manuscripts if they are good, and is willing to
have them sent to him for examination; but did
he ever ask you to send him anything, or prom-
ise to read everything that he might receive 1
Some periodicals, the Forum^ for example, are
made up almost altogether of contributions
ordered from specialists by the editor on sub-
jects selected by him, and seldom print unso-
:Hcited contributions of any kind. Why should
the editor of the Forum, then, be expected to
read a given manuscript sent to him without
solicitation, when a mere glance at the title of
it shows him that he does not want it, or, in
•case the title is attractive, if perusal of the
first page gives evidence that the treatment of
the subject is inadequate ? *'

The salaries of manuscript readers are an
important item in the expenses of every large
publishing-house or periodical. The Century^
for example, receives nearly 10,000 manuscripts
every year, and the cost, as well as the labor of
caring for them, is inevitably large. '1 he limita-
tions of the magazine are such that only a very
iew of these manuscripts can be used in any
<:ase. Is it reasonable, then, to say that the

editor of the Century or his assistants should
read religiously through every one of these
10,000 manuscripts to make absolutely sure that
no obscure gem is overlooked or that no injus-
tice to the author may be done? Is it not
manifest that the editor is called upon only to
give such examination to unsolicited manu-
scripts as may be consistent with his own in-
terests, and that if he should try to do more
than that, out of regard for the feelings of his
contributors, his own interests would seriously
suffer ?

It is a mistaken idea that an editor has any
responsibility toward the unsolicited contribu-
tor, beyond that of caring for his manuscript
while it is in his possession and of returning it,
in case the necessary stamps are sent with it,
as soon as he has decided that it is unsuitable
for his purpose.

Some editors may encourage young genius,
and most editors do give to their contributors
much gratuitous assistance and advice, but no
writer has a right to expect any editor to do
anything of the kind. As for patiently reading
all the manuscripts that are submitted to him,
if any editor should do it, he would have no
time left in which to do his proper work.

In a word, when an editor is overstocked, or
sees at a glance that an article submitted is not
likely to be what he wants, it is simply unreas-
onable for the author of it to expect that he
should read it through.

Edward L. White*

Brooklyn, N. V.

The Writer.

Pnbliahed monthly by The Writer Publishing Company, 282
Washington street, Rooms 9 and 10, Boston, Mass.

WILLIAM H. HILLS,

Editor.

S*ThbWritbr is published the first day of every month.
It will be sent, post-paid, Onb Ybar for Onb Dollar.

%* All drafts and money orders should be made payable to
The Writer Publishing Co. Stamps, or local checks, should
not be sent in payment for subscriptions.

•»*Thb Writbr will be sent only to those who have paid for
it in advance. Accounts cannot be opened for subscriptions,
and names will not be entered on the list unless the subscription
order is accompanied by a remittance. When subscriptions ex-
pire the names of subscribers will be taken o£f the list unless an
order for renewal, accompanied by remittance, is received. Due
notice will be given to every subscriber of the expiration of his
subscription.

%*■ No sample copies of Thb Writbr will be sent free.

%*The American News Company, of New York, and the
New England News Company, of Boston, and their branches,
are wholesale agents for Thb Writbr. It may be ordered
from any newsdealer, or direct, by mail, from the publisher.

%* Eyerjrthing that may be printed in the magazine will be
written expressly for it.

%* Not one line of paid advertisement will be printed in Thb
Writbr outside of the advertising pages.

%* Advertising rates will be sent on request.

%* Contributions not used will be returned, if a stamped and
addressed envelope is enclosed.

THE WRITER PUBLISHING CO.,

28a Washington Street ( Rooms 9 and 10 ),

( P. O. Box 1905. ) Boston. Mass.

Vol. VII.

March, 1894.

No. 3.

A sheet of paper seventy-two inches wide and
nearly eight miles long was manufactured re-

cently. Those who have a taste for mathe-
matics might amuse themselves by figuring out
how long it would take a newspaper writer to-
cover such a sheet of paper in the course of his-
daily work, assuming that he does llie ordinary^
active newspaper worker's average stint of a
column — say, thirty " takes " of 5 x8 manuscript
paper — a day.

♦ * ♦
The immediate effect of the '* hard times" on
the business of authorship is seen in the unwill-
ingness of editors to buy more manuscripts than
are actually necessary, and, in many cases, in a
tendency to reduce rates of payment for the
manuscripts that are bought. Another effect^
which is not so manifest to writers now. will be
brought to their attention later on, and with
much more pleasant results. The ** hard times,"'
in a word, are compelling periodical publishers-
now to economize in many cases by using the-
accumulation of manuscripts that they have on*
hand, and are driving some of the weaker publi-
cations to the wall. Although authors may suf-
fer now, however, later on they will profit
from the present stringency. The stock o£
accumulated manuscripts cannot last for anp
great length of time, and when it is gone editors-
will buy more liberally than before, both for
immediate and for future needs. Moreover, the
suspension of the weaker publications will'
strengthen those that are left, and will generally-
clear the atmosphere. In the mean time
authors are to be congratulated that their
business is not more unpleasantly affected by-
dull times in business circles, and especially
that, while the smaller periodicals are econo-
mizing, there are so many publications of the
first class that are apparently buying as many
manuscripts and paying as high prices for themt
as usual, to all appearances not being troubled,
in any way by the general business depressioib
that exists.

As for the book trade, it is practically useless-
just now to offer an ordinary book manuscript
to publishers. Hardly any new books are being-;
issued at the present time, and those that are
coming out are chiefly books that were con--
tracted for before the hard times came on. The
present state of affairs in the book trade can-

The Writer.

not last very long, however, and when the dull
times are past every one will be better off on
account of them, as in the case of writers for
periodicals, and for substantially the same

reasons.

w. H- H.

QUERIES.

[ Questions relating to literary work or literary topics will be
answered in this department. Questions must be brief, and
of general interest. Questions on general topics should be
directed elsewhere.]

Some writers declare that it is proper to use
the sign IT at the opening of every paragraph in
a manuscript; others, that an indentation is all
that is required. Which method is most used
by writers in general ? T. R. h.

[ In typewritten copy, and in manuscript legi-
bly written with the pen, an indentation of a half-
inch or an inch is all that is required at the
beginning of each paragraph. If the copy is
not legibly written, or if the indentation is not
as deep as half an inch, the paragraph mark
(IT) is required in addition. Many writers use
the paragraph mark in every case, and some go
further still, and use both a IT at the end of one
paragraph and another at the beginning of the
paragraph that follows. In writing a series of
short notes, — like the *' News and Notes" of
The Writer, for instance, — this custom is
quite general. The advantage of it is that it
makes the copy plainer for the printer; and
every one who has dealt much witK printers
knows that it is impossible to make manuscript
too plain. — w. h. h. ]

How should I address a letter to the French
Academy ? A. t. f.

[A letter to the French Academy may be
addressed: " M. Camille Doucet, Perpetual
Secretary of the Academic Fran^aise, Paris,
France." — w. h. h.]

I observe that The Writer uses the abbre-
viation "Calif." for California. Is not the
" Gal." used by the post-office department bet-
ter? There is no danger of its being mistaken
for the " Colo." of Colorado, or for the abbrevi-
ation of any of the other State names, r. j. b.

[ " Calif." is better than *' Cal." as an abbrevi-
ation for California, because "Cal.," while it
cannot ordinarily be mistaken for " Colo.," may

be mistaken for " Col.," which is a common ab-
breviation for Colorado. " Calif." and " Colo."
are unmistakable abbreviations, and the post>
office department, as well as everybody else,,
will do well to use both of them. — w. h. h. ]

On page 59 of Luce's "Writing for the
Press" I find this sentence, under the heading,
" Errors of Arrangement " : " Carrera died on
the same day that President Lincoln was shotj
and was buried with great pomp." The itali-
cised words are said to be misplaced. Would
the correct placing be : " On the same dajr
that President Lincoln was shot, Carrera diea,.
and was buried with great pomp " 1 Would it
sound better to say Carrera was buried with
great pomp the day he died, or to use a comma
after shot, in the first sentence, leaving the
sense natural, /. e., that while Carrera died on
that particular day, he was buried later .^ It
certainly cannot be that Carrera died and was^
buried with great pomp on the same day that
President Lincoln was shot. Every young-
writer should own a copy of " Writing for the
Press." G. w. s.

[ The sentence might be written : " Carrera.
died the day President Lincoln was shot, and
was buried with great pomp." It would be
better to divide the statement into two sen-
tences — one telling of the death, the other of
the burial. — w. h. h.]

I should like to know the opinion of The
Writer and of Arthur Fosdick, whose article
in the December number has prompted this
question, if it is necessary, in adopting a pseu-
donym, to reveal the true name to a publisher
or an editor. I do not mean in the case of
anonymous communications, but when it is de-
sired to cover the real, by an assumed, name.

L. H. F.

[ The editor of The Writer and Mr. Fos«
dick are agreed that when a writer adopts a
pseudonym he will generally do well to put his
real name and address also upon his manu-
script. He may stipulate that only the pseudo-
nym shall appear in print, but for certain pur-
poses of business correspondence, including
the sending of the possibly non-essential, but
still convenient, check, it is well that the editor
should know the real name and address of his.
contributor. Sometimes an author may desire
to conceal his identity even from editors and
publishers. In that case, he may accomplish,
his object most conveniently ^.vA ^^^Oos>*^^\s^

The Writer.

dealing through a responsible agency like The
Writer's Literary Bureau. — w. h. h. ]

THE SCRAP BASKET.

I should like to inquire whether any one who
has read Harold Frederic's delightful romance,
" In the Valley,'* felt hurried at its close, or,
rather, felt that the author had been hurried,
and at a loss as to the disposition of his charac-
ters at the end of the story ? I must confess to
a slight feeling of disappointment in the clos-
ing pages. Did Mr. Frederic really hurry it
through at the last, or was it my fancy }

M. E. p.

Amsterdam, N. Y.

" An Author's Confession," in the January
Writer, amused me greatly, because, if I did
not know better, I might take it for my own, so
exactly does it correspond with an experience
of mine — little poem, dear little auntie, and all.
Even that expression, '* Now, I call that real
pretty," is an exact duplicate of my aunt's com-
ment. Can Persis Darrow have been under the
piazza when I read it to her, some five or six
years ago.? And the "Why don't you get it
printed ? " and the reason why, too ! Dear me !
How many have heard that question asked !

M. E. V.

Amsterdam, N. Y.

THE USE AND MISUSE OF WORDS.

[ Brief, pointed, practical paragraphs discussing the use and

misuse of words and phrases will be printed in this department.

All readers of The Writer are invited to contribute to it.

-Contributions are limited to 400 words ; the briefer they are, the

better.)

The Birthday Question. — If it is true ( and
I think no one disputes it), as was lately said in
The Writer, ihat "a person can have but one
birthday," 1. ^., the clay on which he enters this
world, what is the propriety of saying that the
day he is seventy is his seventy-first birthday?
The day which is annually celebrated by loving
friends, or solemnly remembered by the friend-
less solitary, is an anniversary, and if the day
he is a year old is his first, so, counting on, the
day he is seventy is his seventieth anniversary.
The statement that Miss Yonge received an
•album from her admiring readers on her seven-

tieth birthday means that the gift was sent on
her seventieth birthday anniversary. It is an
elliptical phrase, — like many others in daily
use, — no more a misunderstanding or mistake
than the phrases, "the year 1894," "seven
o'clock," and others. C.

East Bridgbwatbr, Mass.

BOOK REVIEWS.

Photography Ini>oors and Out. A book for amateurs.
By Alexander Black. 240 pp. Cloth, $1.25. Boston:
Houghton, Mifflin, & Co. 1894.

The Opening chapters of Mr. Black*s book,
telling in popular style of the early history of
photography, are as interesting as a novel. The
author has the faculty of making pictures with
the pen as well as with the camera, and his
story of Porta's invention ot the camera
obscura, the first pictures of silver, the work of
Schulze, Scheele, Wedgewood, Talbot, Ni^pcc,
Daguerre, and other pathfinders, down to the
public announcement of the production of the
daguerreotype in August, 1839, and of the won-
derful improvements made in photography since
that day, cannot fail to fascinate any reader, it is
told in such an entertaining way. Beyond that,
the book is a practical treatise on modern pho-
tography, full of useful hints and suggestions
for making artistic pictures, explaining the
chemistry of photography enough so that the
amateur may know what he is doing with his
pans and his solutions, and closing with tables
of weights and measures and various formulas,
together with an explanation of certain photo-
graphic t^rms. Mr. Black is an expert amateur
photographer, having been formerly president
of the department of photography in the Brook-
lyn institute, and his training as an art critic
enables him to give many useful suggestions
about making photographs that shall be artistic
as well as permanent. A number of half-tone
illustrations scattered through the book both
teach and warn by conspicuous example.

W. H. H.

Thh American Annual of Photography and Photo-
graphic Times Almanac for 1894. Edited by W. I.
Lincoln Adams. 396 pp. Paper, 50 cei ts. New York :
The Scovill & Adams Co. 1894.

Nobody wlio has been long interested in
photography needs to be told what " The
American Annual of Photography" is. It is
one of the first books that every amateur is
sure to get interested in, and the annual issue
of which he is sure to await expectantly. It
is a summary, in sliort, of the advance made in
the art of photography during the year, being
made up chiefly of short articles by many
different contributors, telling what they have
learned by experiment and by experience, and

The Writer.

45^

giving innumerable hints and ** dodges " for
effective photographic work. For instance, in
the 1894 issue are articles on ** Doubles —
How to Make Them," *' Chalk-plate Engrav-
ing for Photographers," ** Photographing Snow
Scenes," ** Vignetting for Landscapes," " On a
Certain Dark-room," " Electric Light for the
Dark-room," "A Thorough Print-washer,"
••Picture Frames and Mats," "Photographs
of the Window Side of Rooms," ** Amateur
Home Portraiture," and scores of other contri-
butions on topics equally interesting to all who
use the camera. Following these are more
than eighty-closely printed pages of standard
formulas and useful recipes. In addition,
there are lone lists of camera clubs, new books
on photography published during the year, and
other matters of record and reference, while the
book is illustrated with from twenty-five to
thirty pictures, all of the most artistic kind.

w. H. H.

Amateur Photography. A practical ^ide for the beginner.
By W. I. Lincoln Adams. Second edition. 90 pp. Paper,
50 cents. New York. The Baker & Taylor Co. 1893.

Mr. Adams is the editor of the Photographic
Times, " The American Annual of Photography,"
"The Photographic Instructor," etc., and he
is wholly competent to write as an expert on
photographic subjects. His '* Amateur Photog-
raphy " is a book for beginners in the science
of picture-taking, and its special merit consists
in the clearness with which his directions re-
garding the various processes are given.

w. H. H.

Photography at Night. By P. C. Duchochois. 108 pp.
f^per, $1.00. New York: The Scovill & Adams Company.
1893.

Photography by artificial light has been made
so easy and there is so much pleasure in it
that a book devoted expressly to the subject
will be generally welcomed. Mr. Duchochois
thoroughly understands what he is talking
aJbout, and his book contains almost everything
that is known about flashlight photography up
to the present time, but study is required on
the part of the non-expert reader in many cases
to get at the full meaning of what he says.
The author himself recognizes this fact, saymg
at the beginning of the final chapter: "This
book has not been written for those who do
not know the rudiments of the art." Those
who are sufficiently well-informed to follow
him intelligently, however, will find in the
volume many useful hints. w. h. h.

A Japanbsb Interior. By Alice Mabel Bacon. 27a pp.
Cloth, $1.25. Boston: Houghton, Mifflin, & Co. 1893.

Miss Bacon's first book, '* Japanese Girls and
Women," was so entertaining that this new
volume, made up from her letters home during
a fifteen-months' residence in Japan, beginning
in 1888, will find an audience already prejudiced

strongly in its favor. The author went to
Japan to become a teacher in a Tokio school
for girls of noble families, and during her stay
there lived in a house half Japanese and half
foreign, associating intimately with the most
refined and cultivated of Japanese women, and
having every opportunity to see and study
Japanese home life. The letters from whicn
she has made up the present book are a daily
chronicle of events, sights, and impressions, and
picture life among the Japanese from a point
of view which the ordinary foreign visitor
cannot reach. ** A Japanese Interior " and
** Japanese Girls and Women " together give
the best idea that it is possible to obtain of
modern home life in Japan. w. h. h.

The Lover's Lbxicon. By Frederick Greenwood. 3.^3 pp.
Cloth, $1.50. New York: Macmillan & Co. 1894.

"The Lover's Lexicon" is described by its
author as "a handbook for novelists, play-
wrights, philosophers, and minor poets; but
especially for the enamoured." Its plan in-
volves a series of essays on words connected
with the affections, beginning with "abhor-
rence " and ending with " wife." The essays
are short, usually from one to three pages in
length. "The enamoured," however, are much
more likely to be interested in each other than
in Mr. Greenwood's work. w. h. h.

The Book op the Fair. An historical and descriptive pres-
entation of the world's science, art, and industry, as viewed
through the Columbian Exposition at Chio^o in 1893. By
Hubert Howe Bancroft. Parts IV., V., VI., VI 1., and
VIII. Each, 40 pages; paper, $1.00. Chicago and San
Francisco : The Bancroft Company. 1894.

The high standard set by both author and
publishers in the first parts of the sumptuous
Bancroft " Book of the Fair " is fully main-
tained as the succeeding parts are issued. The
unusual quality of the work is evident at a

fiance to any one who glances through the
road and handsome pages. The artistic ex-
cellence of the illustrations, the attractiveness
of the heavy plate paper, the good taste shown
in the printing of the work, and the literary
skill with which it has been written combine to
make the book in all respects worthy of its sub-

i'ect, — the greatest exposition that the world
las ever seen.

Part IV. continues the description and illus-
tration of the government and administration
departments, and begins the interesting chap-
ter on the manufactures of the United States,
as they were exemplified in the great manu-
factures' building. All the important exhibits
are adequately described, and scores of the
finest half-tone illustrations, equal in all respects
to the photographs from which they were repro-
duced, show the contents of the building and
the great structure itself, both inside and out.

In Part V. the chapter on American manu-
factures is concluded, and the chapter on icyc-

The Writer.

eign manufactures is begun. The pictures of
exhibits are exceptionally fine.

Part VI. concludes the description and illus-
tration of the foreign manufactures exhibits,
and begins Chapter X., devoted to the depart-
ment of liberal arts. The liberality with which
the work is illustrated is shown by the fact that
there are three full-page pictures and 112
smaller pictures in the forty pages of this
number.

In Part VII. the chapter on liberal arts is
finished, and the woman's department is taken
up. The pictures of laces shown in this part
are wonderfully clear and delicate, and the
progress made by women in the arts and
sciences is illustrated in detail.

Part VIII. opens with a further account of
the wonders that were gathered together in the
woman's building, and begins a lavishly illus-
trated account of the exhibits in machinery
hall.

The " Book of the Fair " will be completed in
twenty-five parts, and will comprise in all 1,000
imperial folio pages. It is a pleasure to learn
that financially, as well as otherwise, the work
is an assured success, more than 100,000 sub-
scriptions having already been sent in to the
publishers. w. H. H.

HELPFUL HINTS AND SUGGESTIONS.

Printed Noteheads for Authors. — I find it
useful to have printed noteheads for my busi-
ness correspondence. They do not cost much,
and they are convenient in dealing with editors
and publishers. They are very simple — just
plain half-sheets of note paper with my name
and address printed in light-faced Gothic type
in the upper left-hand corner, in some such style
as this: —

John James Jones,

J0NE8VILLE, Alabama.
34 Jones Street.

It is in bad taste, I think, to have anything like
"Special Writer" or "Literary Journalist"
printed with the address, but it is convenient
to have the address printed, because it saves
writing, and print is more legible than penman-
ship. L' o. s.

Nbw Haven, Conn.

A Chatelaine Note-book. — Among the "de-
vices" with which The Writer is teeming, I
find none that meets my needs in one very es-
sential respect. Being of the feminine persua-
sion, I lack that one great convenience which

stamps the superiority of the reporter of the
genus male — pockets. A man can carry his
pencils in a vest pocket — yea, even a foun-
tain pen will retain its uprightness, and, there-
fore, its ink, in his care. But we women
who have tried it know to our cost, literally,
the results of putting such a pen into our
pockets, while cloaks render its position in a
" holder " pinned to the dress waist an uncom-
fortable one. Then a man can have note-books
galore; for is he not furnished with indefinite
opportunities for carrying them, in pockets in
front and pockets behind, pockets to the
right and the left, pockets below, and pockets
above. If one fails him, there are others at
his call. But a woman — if she has a pocket, it
is likely to be unget-at-able ; and if she is not
dressed with a reasonable regard to the prevail-
ing style, no paper will send her on its missions.
What is she to do, unless she burdens her
hands with said materials ? and then, on a rainy
day, for instance, how can she carry an
umbrella ? No, we need a note-book that can
be hung on a chatelaine hook, that will carry
note-papers for all our needs, and pencils or
pens, as well, and, moreover, one that can be
used as a tablet for writing, and, though laid
aside when not in service, can be brought into
instant and convenient use at need. I see it
" in my mind's eye," this much-to-be-desired
combination. If some one does not hurry to
invent it for me, I l\ereby give notice that I
shall do it for myself, for the present state of
affairs is too inconvenient for women journal-
ists. A. M. G.
Oak Park, 111.

LITERARY ARTICLES IN PERIODICALS.

[The publisher of Thb Writbx will send to any address a
copy of any magazine mentioned in the following reference list
on receipt of the amount given in parenthesis following the name
— the amount being in each case the price of the periodical,
with postage added. Readers who send to the publishers of the
periodicals indexed for copies containing the articles mentioned
in the list will confer a favor if they will mention Thb Writbs
when they write.]

LiTBRARV Mendicancy. LippincotCs Magazint (a8c. ) for
March.

The Duty of Educatbd Mbn in a Dbmocracy. £. L.
Godkin. Forum ( 28 c. ) for March.

Lowbll in His Lbttbrs. John W. Chadwick. F^rum
(28 c. )for March.

The Writer.

FRANas Parkman. With portrait. James Schouler. Har-
■vard Graduates' Magazine ( 53 c. ) for March.

PiONBBRS OP Southern Litbraturb. S. A. Link. New
England Magazine ( 28 c. ) for March.

John Ruskin at Home. M. H. Spielmann. McClure's
-Jdagatine ( 18 c. ) for March.

Professor Tyndall. Herbert Speocer. With portraits.
JUcClure^s Magazine ( 18 c. ) for March.

The Author and His Book. The Point of View. Scrib-
tier's Magazine ( 28 c. ) for March.

Dramatic Criticism. Bram Stoker. North American
.Review ( 53 c ) for March.

Rbcbnt Improvements in Public Libraries. £. C.
Hovey. North A merican Review ( 53 c. ) for March.

Lord Byron And the Grbbk Patriots. Rev. Henry
Hayman, D. D. Harper^ s Monthly ( 38 c. ) for February.

Bbnjamin Frankun. Brander Matthews. St. Nicholas
(as c ) f or February.

Tub Dbad-lbttbr Office. Patti Lyie Collins. St. Nicho-
las ( 25 c. ) for Febrxiary.

Laurbns Alma-Tadbma. With portrait. Ellen Gosse.
■Century (38 c. ) for February.

Criticism and Culture. James Russell Lowell. Cen-
tury (38 c.) for February .

Lincoln's Gettysburg Address. With fac-simile of the
original manuscript. John (.i. Nicolay. Century (3& c. ) for
Febiuary.

Thb Rights of Unknown Authors. Crn/wrj' ( 38 c. ) for
February.
Rbv. Emory J. Haynbs, D. D. With portrait. Journalist
-< 13 c. ) for February 1 7.

Frederick M. Sombrs. Alfred Balch. Journalist ( 13 c. )
for February 17.

Constance Fbnimorb Woolson. With portrait Henry
Mills Alden. HarperU Weekly ( 13 c. ) for February 3.

Thb Original of Sherlock Holmes. Harper's
Weekly { 13 c ) for February 3.

George William Childs. With portrait. Talcott Wil-
liams. Harper's Weekly ( 13 c. ) for February 10.

David Dudley Field. With portrait. Harper's Weeklg^
( 13 c. ) for February 17

Julian Ralph. With portrait. Harper's Weekly ( 13 c. )
for February 24.

Con'stancb Fbnimorb Woolson. With portrait. Mar-
garet E. Sangster. Harper's Bazar (13 c.) for February 3.

Rbminiscbnces of George William Childs and His
Homb at Wootton. Mary Wager Fisher. Harper's
Bazar ( 13 c. ) for February 17.

Constance Fbnimorb Woolson. With portrait. Chicago
Graphic (13 c.) for February 10.

George MacDonald. With portrait. Chicago Graphic
(13 c. ) for February 24.

Litbraturb for Children. John Habberton. New York
Ledger (8 c ) for February 17,

Professor Tyndall. Professor Huxley. Reprinted from
Nineteenth Century in LitteWs Living Age (21c.) for Febru-
ary 3-

Chinese Poetry in English Verse. Herbert A, Giles.
Reprinted from Nineteenth Century in LitteWs Living Age
(21 c. ) for February 10.

The Early Life of Pbpys. C. H. Firth. Reprinted
from Macmillan's Magazine in LittelVs Living Age (21 c. )
/or February 17.

Beginnings of American Dramatic Literature. Paul
t'l^eicester Ford. New England Magazine ( 28 c. ) for February.

Palmer Cox and the Brownies. Fannie Ratti. St.
Nicholas for January.

Ambrose Bibrcb. With portrait. Inland Printer (23 c.)
for February.

NEWS AND NOTES.

An interesting public document is a pam-
phlet on " The Spelling Reform," by Professor
Francis A. March, president of the Spelling
Reform Association, which has just been issued
by the National Bureau of Education. It is a
revision and enlargement of the author's pam-
phlet published by the Bureau of Education in
1 88 1. An appendix gives a long list of amended
spelling;s recommended by the Philological So-
ciety of London and the American Philological
Association.

" Droch," the name signed to many of the
book reviews in Lifiy is the pseudonym of
Robert Bridges, assistant editor of Scrtbner's
Magazine, The series of clever literary
studies in dialogue form which he has recently
contributed to Life will be published soon in
book form by Charles Scribner*s Sons.

Toilettes (New York) for April is already
out, most attractively illustrated with spring
novelties in fashions, embracing designs by
Worth, Felix, and other famous fashion artists.

In the April number of St. Nicholas will
begin a new serial, entitled "Jack Ballister's
Fortunes," by Howard Pyle, which will run for
more than a year.

The Evangelist relates that, when somebody
once asked Dr. Philip Schaff how he was able
to accomplish so much literary work, he replied,
laughingly: "Oh, that's easy. You must get
up early, and sit up late, and keep awake all
day."

Alphonse Daudet says: "It often happens
that letters from foreign countries are ad-
dressed to me at the French Academy, in the
supposition that I am one of its members.
These letters are almost always returned to
the post-oflTice, with the remark, * Unknown
to the French Academy,* written on the en-
velope. There is no harm in this, since the
post-office knows where to send my corre.
spondence. But the formula is droll. I have
often given evidence oC vt^ •ac^\^Jcv^^^^^sf^^.'^■

, >>

THE Writer.

Mrs. Humphry Ward has returned to Lon-
don to superintend the publication of her new
book, which is to appear early in March.

The death of R. M. Ballantyne will come as
a shock to all boys, young and old, for whom
he has been writing stories since 1848, when he
was but twenty-three years of age, though he
had already been residing for six years in the
Hudson Bay country.

Mrs. Isabella Bird Bishop, the traveller, has
just started upon another journey, although she
is now sixty years old. She is at present
crossing the United States on her way to
Vancouver, whence she is to sail for Japan.
Whether she goes farther will depend upon
her health. She owns a pretty cottage in Scot-
land, and there she spent last summer and
autumn in thoroughly mastering the technique
of photography in preparation for her journey.
She will now be able to illustrate her own
books.

The Godey Publishing Co., of New York,
made an assignment February 8 for the benefit
of its creditors. The assignee, Benjamin S.
Harmon, announces that a syndicate is being
formed for the purpose of purchasing the plant
and good will of Godeyi^s Magazine^ and the pub-
lication of it with new capital and improved
facilities. In the mean time the March num-
ber is being printed.

In an interesting article on " Photography
and Law" in the February number of the
American Amateur Photographer (New York )
it is stated that Judge Wheeler, of New York,
decided in January of this year that a news-
paper which publishes an infringing copy of a
picture of which a photographer holds the legal
copyright cannot justify such publication on
the ground that it was made for the benefit and
by direction of the subject of the picture, who
has an equitable ownership in the copyright,
unless such direction is first procured in writ-
ing, attested by two witnesses. The law stands
that if any person after a photograph is copy-
righted and without first obtaining the consent
of the proprietor in writing, signed before two
witnesses, shall publish the picture, he shall
forfeit one dollar for every copy of the publica-
tion found in his possession.

"Poets in Exile," the leading article in the
Critic for February 24, is an account of the
delightful home-life in Ireland of Mr. and Mrs*
J. J. Piatt, who have lived for years at Queens-^
town, as the official representatives of America.
Their historian is Miss Katherine Tynan, the
novelist.

A biography of J. G. Holland, by Mrs^
Thomas F. Plunkett, a life-long friend, is
announced by the Scribners.

The publishers of Demoresfs Family Maga-
zine ( New York) offer a prize of $100 for the
finest collection of photographic views illustrat-
ing a subject of popular interest and suitable
for a magazine article. The subjects may be
foreign or domestic ( preference will be given to*
the latter), the only stipulation being that the
photographs have never been used for publica-
tion. The competition will be open untiB
August I, 1894. Contributions which do not
win the prize, but are available for publication,,
will be accepted and paid for at regular rates.

G. Hedeler, of Leipzig, Germany, is compilings
a list of private libraries in America. He already
has 500 libraries entered, and asks possessors of
private libraries with whom he has not been
able to communicate to send him information
about the size of. their collections, and the
specialties to which they devote themselves.

Mrs. Lydia Hoyt Farmer, editor of "What
America Owes to Women," who recently sent
a white-and-gold copy of the book to Queen
Victoria, has received a reply dated ** 22 Feb-
ruary, 1894, Privy Purse office, Buckingham
Palace, S. W.," which reads as follows : " Sir
Henry Ponsonby is commanded by the Queen
to thank Mrs. Lydia Farmer for her letter, and
for the volume which she has sent for Her
Majesty's acceptance."

It may not be generally known that Oliver
Wendell Holmes was the inventor of the
"American Stereoscope." Wilson's Photo-
graphic Magazine (New York) for March
prints an interesting letter from him telling
how the first stereoscope came to be manu-
factured, and illustrates the article with an
admirable portrait of Dr. Holmes. Particular
attention is given in the March number of the
magazine to the making of stereoscopic pictures.

The

Writer:

A MONTHLY MAGAZINE TO INTEREST AND HELP ALL LITERARY WORKERS.

Vol. Vn.

BOSTON, APRIL, 1894.

No. 4.

Entered at the Boston Post-office a8 second-class mail matter.

CONTENTS ; pagb

Thb Dialect Nuisancb. H^illiam B. Chiskolm. ... 49

Thrbb Litbkary Parablbs. Harriet Cushman IVUkU. 50

Thb Early Drama. C S. Palmer 51

Nabos for Aggrbcations of Units. Beth Day. ... 5a

Birth of THB "Etching." Wallace D. Vincent. . . . 53

Editorial 54

Credit to Authors as Well as to Periodicals, 54 —
Celerity in Composition, 54 — Prize Offers and Changes

in the Publishing World 54

QUBRIBS. I 55

DiALBCT Again. Mary A . Deniscn 55

Editors and Publishers. Mary A. Denisen 55

Book Rbvibws 56

Hblfful Hints and Suggestions 59

Memorandum Paper, 59 — Tablet Covers for Manu-
scripts, 59 — Pencils Sharpened at Both Ends, 60—
Filing Cuts and Biographies, 60 — Ink for Writing on

Ghsst 60 — Saving Manuscript Paper. 60

LlTBBARY ArTICLBS IN PbRIOOICALS 6l

Nbws and Notbs 6a

THE DIALECT NUISANCE.

A recent clever travesty in The Writer on
the prevailing craze for dialect suggests the
thought — probably a most obvious one — that
the evil of dialect is not in its use, but in its abuse.
The accepted standards of good English are
the same all over this country, and American
people are too critical, as a rule, not to laugh
down and out any lingering remains of country
gaucherie of this kind among those who would
aspire to be considered well-bred. It may be
a toothsome morsel for the dialect writer to
picture the New Englander as saying " beyant "
for " beyond," or the Southerner as using that
vilest of Cracker provincialisms, *• we uns," for
•• we " ; but it is a ridiculous slander upon the
ordinarily well-educated classes of either sec-

tion to put such speech into their mouths —
just as ridiculous as it would be to put the
stilted language of Sir Walter Scott*s heroes or
heroines into the mouths of the tense, curt,
monosyllabic business men of our great cities
today.

The roll of the "r " in the central North and
West, and its inevitable ellipsis in the South,
are more orthodox subjects for employment in
dialect. But even here the rapid multiplication
of the means of communication between the
two sections, the instinctive prejudice of the
average American against provincialisms or
singularities of speech, more frequent inter-
marriage and association, these, and many
other causes, are helping to form for us all a
purer and more universal accent and pronun-
ciation.

The use of dialect where it is not essential to
the subject is a great mistake and a confession
of weakness ; but if it is necessary, it should
be treated so as to show that the leading object
is not to mirror dialect itself, but that it comes
in as an accidental, or, at best, an incidental, con-
sideration. And the writer who employs dia-
lect should impose upon himself very severe
limits, refraining from swamping the real inter-
est of his subject matter by a persistent carica-
ture. The delicate and evasive peculiarities of
speech in this and that section of our common
country are worth noting and preserving, but
only as subordinate to the plot and general
treatment of the subject matter. In picturing
old negro life in the South the use of dialect in
a guarded way is necessary. But even then
care should be taken to pronounce and spell in
the ordinary way many words which the average
negro always pronounces and spells correctly.

The Writer.

and did so pronounce even before he had the
present advantages of schools and a general
newspaper education. It is impossible to treat
the dialect of any people properly, unless you
have mingled with them freely and for some
duration of time. The speech of the average
New Englander is concise, clear-cut, and not
especially characteristic; but the writers who
have attempted to make dialect out of it have
succeeded in many instances in turning it into
a hideous jargon. Of course it is a strong
temptation to a writer to force dialect into his
story if he thinks that it will enable the story to
sell ; but after a while even the worm turns, and
the long-suffering public will not alwa3rs be out-
raged by this avalanche of words without fit-

ness — a mangling and debasing of the noblest
language on earth, and a determined craze for
putting its vilest distortions into the mouths
even of its educated and refined people. No
polished or cultivated New Englander ever said
** be3rant " for " beyond " ; and if there are peo-
ple in the South who ever give utterance to that
monstrosity, " we uns" or "you uns,'*they must
live away up in the hills or else down in the
very tangles of the rice jungles or the pine
forests.

Dialect should not be rashly tabooed, but it
should be held severely in leash, so to say. It
is a good servant, but an odious master.

William B. Chisholm.

Elmira, N. Y.

THREE LITERARY PARABLES.

" Now, Barabbaa was a — publisher."

A butcher calls at the door and offers a fine
sweet ham, neatly cased. The mistress agrees
to buy it, saying, however, that it is against her
rules to pay for any article until the whole of it
is eaten. The butcher, knowing that there are
many carts on the road laden with hams just as
finely cured as his, ruefully accepts the terms,
and, when a price is settled, departs.

After keeping the ham for two years in a
dusty, musty cellar, the housekeeper returns it
to the butcher, soiled and stale, saying that,
after all, her family prefers fresh meat, and she
has decided not to cook the ham.

One spring morning a farmer knocks at the
kitchen door of a city house, with a basket of
fresh-laid eggs for sale. The mistress ex-
presses delight at obtaining them, declaring,
however, that it is her invariable custom to pay
for articles after they have appeared on her
table, and then only such a price as she thinks
fit. Expecting an early settlement under those
conditions, and being in need of cash for the

interest on the mortgage on his farm, the man ac-
cepts the lady*s terms and departs. Week after
week and month after month go by, but no pay-
ment is made for the eggs. When he calls at the
house to inquire, the maid informs him that her
mistress bids her say that the great variety of
seasonable articles of food has prevented the use
of the eggs, but that she hopes very soon to find
a place tor them on her menu. In the autumn
the farmer is surprised to have the maid hand
him the basket, saying that, as the eggs have lost
their freshness and are uneatable, her mistress
returns them, with thanks for the opportunity for
purchasing, and hopes that the farmer will call
whenever he is in town and allow an examina-
tion of his stock.

The third of these true parables relates to a
greengrocer and some crisp blanched lettuce
which he is requested to leave for the house-
keeper's examination at her leisure. After a
time a messenger leaves a package at the green-
grocer's shop. On opening it he finds his let-
tuce, wilted and bruised, and these consolatory

The Writer.

iivords : '* Owing to no lack of merit, but because
lettuce is not exactly available for my table, I
return these heads, with thanks for the oppor-
tunity for examining them."

And here endeth the parables, and the tnra-
ing of the worm.

HarrUt Cushman WUkU,

Summit, N. J.

THE EARLY DRAMA.

It is probable that few of the many thousands
'vho each year attend the modern theatres think
'Oi the time when priests and monks acted parts
4]pon the stage, and many scenes of the plays
^ere founded upon scripture history. Yet,
were we to trace the history of our modem
^rama back to its origin, we should find that
the priests were the first actors, and the first
plays were representations of scripture scenes.

It was in the middle ages, in the beginning of
the thirteenth century, when these plays were
£rst introduced. Pilgrims, coming from the
Holy Land, related, on the street corners of the
iarge towns, their experiences, and also recited
legends in which Christ and the apostles were
the chief actors. These recitals greatly inter-
ested the simple people of those times ; so much
so, in fact, that the priests, who were laboring
in the cause of the church, devised from them
a means of strengthening their own power and
inculcating into the popular mind the true prin-
ciples of the Christian religion. They took
the legends which the pilgrims were reciting,
arranged them to suit their purposes, and acted
them upon the stage. Such was the origin of
the Mystery Plays, — the precursors of the
modern drama.

For a tew years after the first play was pre-
sented the results were all that could have been
hoped for by the most sanguine of the priests.
Their primitive theatres were filled to over-
flowing; the plays were received with enthu-
siasm and delight; and the truths presented
seemed to be grasped and appreciated by the
audiences. But, as time went on, the priests
sought to improve the plays by introducing
more unique and popular characters. The

people were delighted with the change, and the
priests, unable to distinguish between cause
and effect, continued to add droll characters,
until the audience completely lost sight of the
moral part, and occupied themselves only with
the dramatic features.

Thus the Mystery Plays degenerated into
ludicrous absurdities, in which animals were
worshipped, and in which sentiment was ex-
pressed which would not tend to elevate the
moral tone of any people of any age. The
farcical element became paramount; and, in
the north of France, that most docile of crea-
tures, the ass, was elevated to a high rank upon
the stage. The bishops at last came to see
the absurdity of the plays, and banished them
from the precincts of the church. This was
the first separation of the altar and the stage.
The priests withdrew, but their work did not
end. People from other ranks assumed the
characters of Christ and the apostles, and con-
tinued to write and act plays which were
founded upon Biblical history. The interest
of the people continued to grow. If one play
occupied a day, with only short intermissions
for meals, it suited them so much the better ;
and if the ass, now and then, made the air
vibrate with a sonorous "hee-haw," so much
the more were they pleased.

In France scenes and decorations were first
introduced. The stage was divided into three
portions, with heaven above, the earth below,
and hell beneath the earth. Heaven was deco-
rated with bright flowers and showy carpets,
while hell was made to look dark and gloomy
and to savor strongly of brimstone. The wholft.
company^ inclMdvci^ ^^'t 'aa&^'a&'s>fc\s>i?^^^ <aj^ ^^^

5«

The Writer.

stage, and each appeared when his cue was
called. All the actors appeared in a sportive,
rather than a religious, air; and, if their acting
was a true index of their feelings, it is apparent
that they did not have a very solemn sense of
the holiness of the subject which they were try.
ing to represent. Hell did not seem to them a
very hot place ; and, if the true inwardness of
their motive could have been ascertained, it
would have been love of show and approbation,
rather than a desire to teach the truths of the
Bible.

The characters which were represented ap-
pear to us in a most ludicrous light. Judas
carried under his coat a blackbird and the
entrails of an animal, so that when his soul
'took its flight, it might go in the shape of a
blackbird and his entrails might bs strewn over
the stage, according to history. King David
was represented as quarrelling with his wives,
and then calling loudly for a glass of beer. In
one German play Cain and Abel were examined
by the Lord to ascertain their proficiency in the
Lord*s Prayer. Abel passed a creditable exam-
ination, but Cain hardly received a '* paiss,'* not-
withstanding the fact that his father stood near
to prompt and encourage him. Another favor-
ite scene, illustrating the sorrows of hen-pecked
husbands, was the scene of the flood and Noah

and his family entering the ark. " Noe's Wif •*'
was the principal character, and refused to enter
the ark unless she were allowed to bring with
her " her gossips every one." The devil, too,
played a no small part His business was tO'
amuse the groundlings. He was rigged up so*
as to look repulsive and hideous, and in one
play was mistaken for a dancing bear.

The Mystery Plays, in the character which
I have above described, continued to be acted
upon the stage until near the close of the six-
teedth century. At that time abstract imper-
sonations, such as Vice, Virtue, and Mercy, g^rad-
ually took the place of the scriptural characters.
The new plays were called Moral Plays, and
were designed to teach some ethical precept..
They flourished in the reign of the Tudors, and
reached their highest perfection in the reign of
Henry VII. The devil was still retained, andr
his part, as in the Mysteries, was to create a.
laugh.

It was in the reign of Elizabeth, when the
people had become too enlightened to be inter-
ested in devils and allegorical characters, that
the interest in the Moral Plays began to ebb.
Human passions then replaced the mjrthical
elements, and the Moral Plays gave way to the:
modern drama. C. S. Palmer.

Elbridgb, N. Y.

NAMES FOR AGGREGATIONS OF UNITS.

It is a curious fact, says a newspaper para-
graph, that the English language has a different
word to designate nearly every kind of beast or
bird in groups. It might have added fish and
human beings as well; in fact, almost every
aggregation of units.

To those who make a study of the oddities of
the language, the following list may prove inter-
esting. Nearly all the terms here given are in
common use : —

A collection of boats is called a fleet; of

fleets, a navy ; of rays, a beam ; of rubbish, a
heap ; of books, a library ; of papers, a lot

Of bees, a hive, colony, swarm, or cast; of
locusts, a cloud, plague, swarm, or army.

Of herring, a shoal ; of cod, a run ; of whales,
a school ; of porpoises, a shoal.

Of partridges, a covey ; of pheasants, a nide ;
of snipe, a whisp ; of quail, a bevy ; of herons,
a sedge ; of peacocks, a muster or strut ; of
doves, a flight; of rooks, a building; of grouse,,
a brood; of plovers, a stand; of wild-fowl, a.

The Writer.

^lump ; of geese, a gaggle or lag ; of wild geese,
;a flock; of choughs, a clattering; of nightin-
j^^ales, a watch; of swans, a whiteness ; of dot-
-trelly a trip ; of ducks, a team ; of brant, a gang ;
of pigeons, a company ; of larks, an exaltation ;
•^ hawks, a cast

Of serpents, a nest.

Of dogs, a kennel, or pack ; of foxes, a skulk ;
>of monkeys, a troop; of wolves, a pack; of
lions, a pride; of bears, a sleuth; of buffaloes,
.a herd; of oxen, a drove; of sheep, a flock; of
Jiogs, a sounder ; oi swine, a herd ; of mules, a
'drove ; of horses, a troop or stud.

. Of robbers, a band ; of ruffians, a horde ; of
rowdies, a mob ; of troops, a body ; of sailors,
a crew; of children, a troop; of people, a
crowd ; of soldiers, a company ; of companies,
a regiment; of regiments, a corps; of corps,
an army; of officials, a board; of lawyers, a
bar ; of judges, a bench ; of delegates or sena-
tors, a congress; of engineers, a corps; of
barons, a baronage; of beauties, a galaxy; of
worshippers, a congregation ; of angels, a host*
This list is not exhaustive, and no doubt
many can add to it. Befh Day,

South Kaukauna, Wis.

BIRTH OF THE " ETCHING."

Once upon a time an author wrote a story of
'six thousand words, had it neatly typewritten,
-and sent it to a leading magazine. After
-twenty-eight days it was returned with thanks
-and a ifiumb mark on the first sheet. After
^renovation, the story went the rounds of the
magazines, the high-class weeklies, and the
Sunday newspapers.

Then the author concluded that it lacked
humor. He inserted some humor, and the
story made another return trip. Then he
added a little pathos, more excitement, deeper
action, and stronger characters ; and after each
change the story was rejected.

The author could think of no more changes
to make. He knew that the story was good —
- or had been; and, as a last resort, he took it to
. a friendly editor, who had not received a call
from this particular manuscript, and begged
him to look over it and tell him what was
-wrong. The editor took the story, and prom-
ised to read it as soon as he had time;

Five years afterward, the editor found the
«tory and the time to read it, and proceeded to
'Ornament it with his blue pencil. When the
author examined the manuscript he was as-
tounded to find every paragraph, except the

first, crossed out. Now the author had sworn
a terrible oath not to add a single word to the
story, come what might. He had sworn also to
try once more. So he read the sole remaining
paragraph, which follows : —

** Farmer Gabriel Sumner stood looking at a
black speck which moved slowly up the icy
mountain side. The wind was rising, and great
clouds of snow scudded along before him, often
shutting out of view the moving speck. At
such times he leaned forward, straining his
eyes to their utmost, and held his breath in sus-
pense."

That was all. What could he do with it?
After an hour of intense thought, he remodelled
it thus : —

" Farmer Gabriel stood looking.

** Before him, an ice-covered mountain side.
On its white slope, a black speck. Occasional
gusts of snow-laden wind. Farmer Gabriel
stood looking.

" Upward moved the speck. The elements
sought to shut the mountain from sight. The
farmer leaned forward, with straining eves and
bated breath. Upward moved the specx.

" Farmer Gabriel stood looking."

The " etching " was born.

Wallace D, Vincini.

BsooiCLVN, N. Y.

The Writer.

TvMUk»d monthly by The Writer Publishing Company, aSa
Washington street, Rooms 9 and 10, Boston, Mass.

WILLIAM H. HILLS.

Editor.

%*Tia Wkitbx is published the first day of every month.
It will be sent, post-paid, Onb Ykak for Onb Dollar.

%* All drafts and money orders should be made pajrable to
The Writer Publishing Co. Stamps, or local checks, should
not be sent in payment for subscriptions.

V'Thb Wkitbr will be sent only to those who have paid for
it in advance. Accounts cannot be opened for subscriptions,
and names will not be entered on the list unless the subscription
order is accompanied by a remittance. When subscriptions ex-
pire the names of subscribers will be taken off the list unless an
order for renewal, accompanied by remittance, is received. Due
notice will be given to every subscriber of the expiration of his
subscription.

*«* No sample copies of Thb Writxk will be sent free.

. %* Everything that may be printed in the magazine will be
written expressly for it.

%* Not one line of paid advertisement will be printed in Thb
Writbr <nitside of the advertising pages.

%* Advertising rates will be sent on request.

%* Contributions not used will be returned, if a stamped and
addressed envelope is enclosed.

THE WRITER PUBLISHING CO.,

a8a Washington Street (Rooms 9 and 10),

( P. O. Box 1905. ) Boston. Mass.

Vol. VIL

April, 1894.

No. 4.

Short, practical articles on any topic con-
nected with literary work are always wanted
for The Writer. Literary people are invited
especially to send in suggestions for the *' Help-
fnl Hints " department, and items of information
about any literary work on which they may be
engaged. The chief object of The Writer is
to be a magazine of mutual help for authors,
and its pages are always open for anything
practical which may tend in this direction.
Bits of personal experience, suggestions regard-
ing methods, and ideas for making literary
Work easier or more profitable are especially
desired. Articles must be short, because the
magazine is small.

*♦*

Editors of periodicals are popularly supposed

to lay more or less stress in buying ** contribu-

tions " on the value of a well-known name, but
in making up the quotation-sheets that they-
send out to the newspapers some of them do*
not seem to act in accordance with this theory..
For instance. Harper's Weekly recently had a
quatrain, " Life's Contrasts," signed " T. B. A."
— initials which will be quite generally recog-
nized. In the quotation-sheet the quatrain was
credited simply ''Harper's Weekly:' The
editor of Life often omits the names of contrib-
utors from the credits on his quotation-sheet^
sometimes even when the knowledge of the
author's name would increase the reader's inter-
est in the poem. Other editors make the same
mistake.

♦ **
The proper way, of course, in such cases is
always to give credit to the author of the quo-
tation as well as to the periodical from which it
has been taken. This is the practice of all.
careful newspaper editors, and it is only just
that this should be the rule. In the long run
it will be for the advantage of the periodicals
to have proper credit given to the author whose
stories or whose poems they have bought. It
is strange that their editors do not see this-
more clearly, and in consequence use more care^
in making up their regular quotation-sheets.

An editor recently received two poems, with
a letter saying : —

"These are the first efforts I have ever sent to any news-
paper. If there is any merit in them, please publish ; if not,,
you know what to do with them. I would like very much to ■
have you publish the poem, ' To Lizzie.' The other I wrote
in a very short time — about two hours.''

The poem which was written in a very short
time — about two hours — consisted of four
four-line stanzas. It might have interested the
author of it, perhaps, to know that Rev. Dr^
Smith says he wrote the national hymn,.
"America," in something less than thirty
minutes.

One of the advantages which readers of The
Writer have over other writers is that the
magazine gives them prompt information of
prize ofiEers made for manuscripts, as wett as.
news of important changes in the pnblishifi^
world, such as removals of publishers or

The Writer.

aiagaiiiies, suspensions or consoKdattons of
periodicals, announcements of new periodical
publications, failures of publishers, the estab-
lishment of new firms, and other similar infor-
mation, which is of the greatest importance to
all writers. In this issue of the magazine, for
instance, there are announcements of four
prize offers, together with news of many im-
portant changes in the magazine and book pub-
lishing world. No literary worker can be sure
of being up to date who does not read The
Writer regularly. w. h. h.

QUERIES.

[ Qvestkms relating to litenry work or literary topics will be
answered in this department. Questions most be brief, and
ci general interest. Questions on general topics should be
directed elsewhere.]

( I. ) Would it do to send the accompanying
illustration to a story you have translated along
with the manuscripts Could another cut be
taken from that ?

( 2. ) In translating a story is it necessary to
give the name of the author, or is it sufficient
merely to say : " Translated from the German,"
or the Swedish, or some other language ?

s. V.

[ ( I. ) An illustration cut from any magazine
or periodical can be reproduced either by photo-
graphic process or by re-drawing.

( 2. ) In crediting a translated story the name
of the author should invariably be given.
*' From the French of Victor Hugo," for ex-
ample, is a good way of putting it. — w. h. h.]

DIALECT AGAIN.

1 confess I am quite taken abacjc at the
small whirlwind I have raised by my article on
** Dialect," which was published in the January
Writer, and which I protest was written quite
in fun. I thought everybody would see that, as
a matter of course, I meant the illiterate, whose
use of the dialect is common, just as it is in
Maine, Massachusetts, Connecticut, anywhere.
I have lived too long in the South to wish or
attempt to injure the feelings of any Southern
person. Many of the Southerners by whom I
have been surrounded for years are among my
dearest personal friends.

To say I was surprised at the way my little
squib was taken would be expressing myself
too mildly by far. I was almost hurt to think I
was so little understood.

The next time I ** try to be funny," which is,
perhaps, not my forte, I will follow the ex-
ample of the small children in their first
attempts at drawing, who label their efibrts,
'' This is a horse," or a cow, as the case may
be. I will, in the inimitable language of Arte-
mus Ward, write underneath, *^ This is a Goak."
Far be it from me to disparage the great and
glorious word-painters of the world. I like
them, and I like dialect — in reason.

And now, dear friends of the pen and pencil,

that I have made my explanation, with my

politest bow, J hope it will be acceptable to my

most courteous critics.

Mary A* Dinison.
Wasningtom, D. C.

EDITORS AND PUBLISHERS.

I want to speak in commendation of that
capital little article, "Both Ends of the Line,"
which was published in the February Writer.
It is thoughtful, practical, and correct, and
ought to be widely read. I also want to say a
few words for the publishers I know. They
are, with few exceptions, a noble set of men,
and uniformly kind and courteous. The edi-
tors of the Youtkis Companion are princes
among their kind; so are those of Harper's
VouHj^ Piopiiy and, in fact, of all of the Harpers*
publications. I have had the honor to take
refusals from them as well as acceptances, and
in all cases my articles come back as spotless
as they left my hands, barring sometimes the
accidents of mail usage, and generally accom-
panied by pleasant words from the editors
themselves in their own handwriting.

I think no gentleman will ever return a manu-
script with no acknowledgment whatever.

It is certainly sometimes very difficult — and
Jean Halifax tells why — to know just what
will be acceptable to the di£Eerent periodicals.
The only way to get at a solution is to send the
poem or sketch to one editor after another until
it finds a market. In that way I seldom faiLu^

The Writer.

place all my manuscripts at last, so that a
return does not trouble me in the least.

**But," says one, "that's what editors are
paid for; they ought to be courteous.** No,
they are not specially paid for being courteous,
only for the work they do as Readers, and as
writers for the press. No amount of salary will
make a gentleman, if the instinct be not born in
him.

Having experienced their courtesy both here
and abroad, I came to the conclusion long ago
that editors were the hardest worked, and in
general the most delightful, people in the world.

Mary A, Denison.

Washington, D. C.

BOOK REVIEWS.

Thb Colok Printbr. A treatise on the use of colors ia typo-
graphic printing. By John F. Earhart \yj pp. and oo
colored plates. Cloth, $12.50. Gndnnati : Earhart & Rich-
ardson. 189a.

The most artistic book on printing that has
ever come to the attention of The Writer is
John F. £arhart*s monumental work, "The
Color Printer.** It is a beautiful volume, 8X
by \oyi inches in size, containing 137 pages of
letterpress and ninety color-plates, printed in
from two to twenty colors each. It is hand-
somely bound in cloth, with edges marbleized
and cover stamped in gold and fine colors.
Some idea of the patience and technical skill re-
quired for the production of such a work is
given by the fact that to produce a limited edi-
tion of it 625 different forms and 1,625,000 im-
pressions were necessary. The book contains
166 colors, hues, tints, and shades, produced by
mixtures of two colors each, with the propor-
tions printed below each color. A great variety
of fine color effects is produced by printing col-
ors in lines and solids over gold bronze, printed
also in lines and solids. A diagram of comple-
mentary colors, accompanied by simple rules
for obtaining an endless variety of harmonious
color combinations, is one of the most valuable
features of the book. Another interesting feat-
ure is a miniature landscape printed in ten col-
ors, showing impressions of each block, both
separate and as registered into its proper place
as the picture grows toward completion.
Specimens of embossing done on an ordinary
job press are given, together with a description
of the very simple method by which the work
is done. There are thirty-nine lists of two-
color combinations, containing more than 2,000
diffierent combinations, and forty-two lists of
three-color combinations, containing more than
1,400 different combinations selected from the

colors shown in the book. Each of these com*
binations is marked as being good, very good, or
excellent, making it easy for the printer follow-
ing the book as a guide in practical work to select
the best. In selecting these combinations, the
author has been governed solely by the natural
laws of harmony and contrast of colors. The
book, accordingly, will answer the purpose of
all those who desire to use colors intelligently
and effectively, producing the best results in
the simplest manner, without waste of time or
material.

To printers ambitious to do the best of color
work, "The Color Printer** will be an invalu-
able aid, and, as Mr. De Vinne has said, there
is not a printing office in the country that uses
$100 worth of color in a year that will not save
the price of the book through using the exact
formulas that are given for making tints. At the
same time the book is sure to do much to raise
the standard of color printing, and to improve
the taste of every one who studies its delicate
and artistic color combinations. Simply as a
work of art, "The Color Printer'* will fascinate
any one who looks at it ; from first to last it is
an exquisite specimen of the perfection of the

Crinter*s art. Its preparation has evidently
een a labor of love with Mr. Earhart, and he
has every reason to feel satisfied with his
achievement. The price of the book now is
$12.50 a copy, but an early advance in price is
probable, for the edition is limited, and is selling
very rapidly. It would be strange, indeed, if it
were not, for the work is a masterpiece of typo-
graphic skill, and is sure to be sought after, not
only by printers, but by artists and book collec-
tors everywhere, as well. w. h. h.

Thb Foundations of Rhetoric By Adams Sherman HllL
371pp. Cloth, $1.10. New York: Harper & Bros. 1893.

No better idea of the nature and purpose of
" The Foundations of Rhetoric ** can be given
than by a quotation from the preface of the
book.

" For practical purposes,'* says Professor
Hill, "there is no better definition of a good
style than Swift's — Proper Words in Proper
Places. * Differ as good writers may in other
respects, they are all distinguished by the
judicious choice and the skilful placing of
words. They all aim ( i ) to use no word that
is not established as a part of the language in
the sense in which they use it, and no word that
does not say what they wish it to say so clearly,
as to be understood at once, and either so
strongly as to command attention, or so agree-
ably as to win attention ; ( 2 ) to put every word
in the place fixed for it by the idiom of
the language, and by the principles which gov-
ern communication between man and man, —
the place which gives the word its exact value
in itself and in its relations with other words \

The Writer.

and ( 3 ) to use no more words than are neces-
sary to effect the purpose in hand.

" If it be true that these simple principles
underlie all good writing, they may properly be
called The Foundations of Rhetoric. To
help young writers to master these principles is
the ODJect of the following pages. They are es-
pecially intended for those who have had some
practice in writing, but who have not yet learned
to express themselves well.

"The Introduction sets forth as simply,
clearly, and compactly as possible the leading
facts of English grammar, including definitions
of technical terms. The body of the book is in
three Parts. Part I., which treats of Words, is
divided into two books : in Book I., proper and
improper expressions, arranged for convenience
in classes that correspond to the several parts
of speech, are set side by side; in Book II.,
questions of choice between words equally
proper are considered. Part II., which treats
of Sentences, is divided into two books : in
Book I., good and bad sentences, arranged for
convenience in chapters that correspond to the
five important qualities of style, are set side by
side; in Book II., questions of choice between
sentences equally proper are considered. Part
III. treats of Paragraphs."

The plan of the book, as any one can see at a
glance, is admirable. As for its quality, the
author has been for years at the head of the
department for instruction in English at Har-
vard college, and thousands of those who have
been students under him, — the editor of The
Writer included, — will be ready to testify
that no more competent or interesting teacher
of the right use of the English tongue has ever
lived. Professor HilPs " Principles of Rhet-
oric" has long been a standard text-book.
This new " Foundations of Rhetoric " is quite
as practical, and sensible, and closely-written as
the older book, and it is an advance upon that
in many ways. It is doubtful, indeed, if any
better book than this on the practical use of
English has ever been written. The student of
it will find some valuable suggestions on every
page, and innumerable questions about the mat-
ters that puzzle young writers most frequently
are answered in it. It is in every way an ad-
mirable work. Its value is increased by a
thorough index, and by an appendix which
gives all the rules of punctuation that any ordi-
nary writer needs to know. w. h. h.

Knglish Synonyms Explainbd in Alphabbtical Ordbr.
With copious illustrations and examples drawn from the
best writers. By George Crabb. A. M. 638 pp. Cloth.
$1.00. New York : George Routledge & Sons. 1893.

Study of the nice distinctions in meaning in
words closely allied is invaluable to any writer
who desires to use exactly and effectively the
langua^^e in which he writes. Crabb's " Syno-
nyms 'Moes something more than put together

lists of words of similar meaning ; besides doing
this, the author discusses the differences in
meaning between the different words, and by
illustrative examples shows their proper use.
The origin of words is taken into account, and
reasons are given why, in certain places, it is
better to use one word rather than another,
almost, but not quite, its equivalent. No
writer, however skilful, can fail to get benefit
from careful study of this book. w. h. h.

Olivbr Wbndbll Holmbs. By Walter Jerrold. With a
portrait. 144 pp. Cloth, 90 cents. New York: Macmil-
lan & Co. 1893.

The cellotype portrait prefixed to Mr. Jer-
rold*s little book is an admirable picture of the
" Autocrat." The different chapters of the book
treat of Dr. Holmes as " The Man," " The
Poet," *»The Novelist," "The Autocrat and
Teacher," and " The Doctor," with full appre-
ciation ot his many-sided ability. As a poet,
Mr. Jerrold gives to Holmes the position im-
mediately after Longfellow in point of fame, be-
lieving at the same time that in point of popu-
larity ne is probably to-day the very first among
the poets of America. His sketch of Dr.
Holmes* life is the most interesting portion of
the book. The volume closes with a bibli-
ography of Dr. Holmes' writings up to 1891.

Ti* H. H.

BoN-MoTs OF Charlbs Lamb and Douglas Jbrkold.
Edited by Walter Jerrold. With grotesques by Aubrev
Beardsley. 191 pp. Cloth, 75 cents. New York : MacmU-
Ian & Co. 1893.

A good portrait of Douglas Jerrold and a less
satisfactory one of Lamb increase the value of
this dainty little volume. As for Mr. Beards-
ley's drawings, most of them are meant to orna-
ment, rather than to illustrate, as they might
more effectively have done. The editor of the
little book has prefixed brief sketches of the
two wits whose bright sayings are included in
it, and he has made an entertaining collection
of epigrams and anecdotes, which is issued by
the publishers in most attractive form.

W^. n. It.

Studibs op thb Stagb. By Brander Matthews. With por-
trait. ai4 pp. Qoth, $1.00. New York: Harper &
Brothers. 1894.

To writers Mr. Matthews* paper on " The
Dramatization of Novels " will probably be the
most interesting in this little volume of " Studies
of the Stage." It is especially valuable because
the author of it is a playwright, as well as an
essayist, story-teller, and critic, and his sugges-
tions regarding the methods and the difficulties
of dramatization are based upon practical ex-
perience. Incidentally, many hints about play-
writing are given in the essay. The other
essays in the book discuss the dramatic out-
look in America, the New York Player's
Club, "Charles Lamb and the Thft^J^^V ^*--
Francisc\]ii^ S^xct^ >>^. '^vINks* VsAaaaNx^.,''^ 'SJos^Mt.-

.T»E Writer.

speare, Moli^re, and Modern English Comedy,"
and **The Old Comedies," and the volume
closes with " A Plea for Farce." Mr. Mat-
thews is right in thinking, as he says in his
prefatory note, that being himself a 'maker of
plays he has considered the art of the dramatist
with a fuller understanding of its technic, and
with a more intimate sympathy than is possible
to those who know the stage only from the far
side of the footlights. w. h. h.

Catalogue of *'A. L. A." Library. Five thousand vol-
umes for a popular library, selected by the American Library
Association and shown at the World's Columbian exposition.
59a pp. Washington: Government Printing Office. 1893.

The United States Bureau of Education has
just published this catalogue of a model library
of 5.000 volumes, representing as nearly as pos-
sible the 5,000 books that a new library ought
to obtain first for its collection. The catalogue,
however, does much more than give a desirable
list of books. It shows two very complete sys-
tems of classification, and, in this respect, is the
most instructive volume yet printed on the sub-
ject of libraries. It is divided into three parts :
Part I., classed catalogue according to the
Decimal classification; Part II., classed cata-
logue according to the Expansive classification;
and Part III., Dictionarv catalogue. Part I. is
preceded by alphabetical lists ofbiography and
fiction. All the books included in the library
would cost at retail $12,125.90. w. h. h.

Short Frbnch Grammar. By C. H. Grandgent. 150 pp.
Cloth, 80 cents. Boston : D. C. Heath & Co. 1894.

French Lbssons and Exbrcisbs. Part I. By C. H. Grand-

fent. 34 pp. Flexible cloth, la cents. Boston : D. C.
leath & Co. 1894.

Mr. Grandgent is now director of modem
language instruction in the Boston public
schools, having been formerly a tutor in mod-
em languages in Harvard university. This
new grammar of his combines the following
advantages: (i ) brevity without undue concise-
ness, ( 2 ) treatment of the subject from the point
of view of the American pupil, ( 3 ) a strictly
systematic arrangement, and (4) a scientific but
easily intelligible study of French pronuncia-
tion.

The " Lessons and Exercises " are based on
a little text with which they are published in a
pamphlet which accompanies the grammar.
There will be one or more similar pamphlets,
so that the teacher may not be obliged to use
the same exercises with successive classes.

W^. H. n.

Ships That Pass in the Night. By Beatrice Harraden.
235 pp. Cloth, ^i.oo. New York: G. P. Putnam's Sons.
1894.

"If every one who wrote books now would
be satisfied to dust books already written," the
author of "Ships That Pass in the Night"
makes her Disagreeable Man say, " what a
regenerated world it would become ! " It is

certain, as the Disagreeable Man says furthei^
later on, that " there are too many books as it
is ; and not enough people to dust them." Still
" Ships That Pass in the Night " has found a
welcome. It is a story of life among the in-
valids at an Alpine health resort, and its nov-
elty, both as regards its subject and its method
of treatment, sumciently accounts for its success^
The Disagreeable Man is an interesting charac-
ter, but only a little more so than the invalid
heroine of the book, Bernardine Holme. In-
cidentally he gives her some advice, in talking
with her one day, which all writers of books
might heed with distinct advantage. One of
her life wishes is to write a book herself*-
" Whatever else you may do," says he, " don't
make your characters hold long discussions
with each other. In real life people do not
talk four pages at a time without stoppings
Also, if you bring together two clever men,
don't make them tSk too cleverly. Clever peo-
ple do not. It is only the stupid ones who
think they must talk cleverly all the time. And
don't detain your reader too long : if you must
have a sunset, let it be a short one." ..." If
you have the courage to be simple when you
come to the point, you will succeed." The
author of " Ships That Pass in the Night " lives
well up to her literary theories. Her book is
straightforward, clear, simple, and direct. It
seems a pity, however, that Bernardine should
not have seen the Disagreeable Man's pathetic
love-letter; and it seems a pity, too, that the
book should have so utterly unnecessary an
unhappy ending. This edition of the story, by
the way, is the authorized American edition. It
is an attractive one, but it seems strange to find
the Putnams' proof-reader allowing "cnAlet" to
pass for " chalet," and " tack " for " tact."

Yi t H. n.

Thb Dblbctablb DucHv. By"Q." 320 pp. Cloth, $1.00^
New York : Macmillan & Co. 1893.

" The Delectable Duchy " is a collection of
characteristic stories, studies, and sketches
by Arthur Quiller-Couch. They are graphic,
bright, and interesting, — worthy in all respects
of the reputation won by the author of " The
Splendid Spur " and " Dead Man's Rock."

W^. fi. H.

In Exilb, and Othbr Stokibs. By Mary Hallock Foote.
253pp. Cloth, $1.25. Boston: Houghton, Mifflin, & Co.
1894.

Mary Hallock Foote has a genius for story-
telling, and since she established her reputation
with "The Led-Horse Claim," a few years ago,,
everything that she has written has increased
the number of her friends. The present collec-
tion of .short stories includes " In Exile,"
" Friend Barton's Concern," " The Story of the
Alcdzar," "A Cloud on the Mountain,^ "The
Rapture of Hetty," and "The Watchman.'*
Four of these are tales of Western life, the:

The Writer.

59>

scene being laid either in California or Colo-
radOy but "The Story of the Alcdzar" and
** Friend Barton's Concern " are given a New
England setting. All the stories in the book
are vigorous, graceful, bright, and entertaining,
and the book is sure to have a great success.

wf» n* H>

Campfi*b Musings. Life and good times in the woods. By
William C. Gray, Ph. D Second edition. 304 pp. Qoth,
fi.50 Chicago : The Interior Company. 1894.

To every lover of life in the woods every new
book on camp life is a source of keen delight.
Every such book is sure to be -a good one, for
no one who loves the woods well enough to
write about them can fail to be an entertaining
companion, and no book that has the flavor of
woods life in it can fail to call up pleasant recol-
lections in the minds of all among its readers
who know by experience what woods life is.
Just to look at the camp pictures in Dr. Gray's
book will send a pleasant thrill through the
veins of every old camper-out, and the text of
the book throughout has the flavor of the forest.
The author's camping experiences have been
varied, and he has made the most of them. He
has a lively sense of humor, and a spirit of
genuine philosophy pervades sketches odorous
with the sweet flavor of the fir balsam and the
spruce. It is no wonder that a second edition
of the book has already been required.

W^. n. H.

OuK ViLLACB. By Mary Russell Mitford. 256 pp. Cloth,
$a.oo. New York : Macmillan & Co. 1893.

This reprint of Miss Mitford's delightful
village sketches is made attractive by loo illus-
trations by Hugh Thompson, and an introduc-
tion by Annie Thackeray Ritchie is prefixed.
The story of Miss Mitford's life, as it is told
by Miss Thackeray, is pathetically interesting.
Her literary work was done under all the (Wa-
advantages that unceasing domestic difficulties
bring, and it is astonishing that under such cir-
cumstances she was able to accomplish what
she did. Her pictures of English country life
included in this volume appeal to every lover of
nature, and are written with a grace and deli-
cacy of literary expression that renders them
worthy of the attractive dress in which they
have been issued by the publishers, w. h. h.

BBAimruL Job. An autobiography. By Marshall Saunders.
With an introduction bv Hezeluah Butterworth. 304 pp.
Qoth. Philadelphia: Charles H. Banes. 1894.

What " Black Beauty " has done to lessen ill-
treatment of the horse, ** Beautiful loe " is likely
to do to lessen ill-treatment of the dog. It is a
story of a real dog, and nearly all its incidents
are founded on fact. The manuscript won a
prize of $200 in the third competition opened by
the American Humane Education Society for
the best bck>k illustrating kind and cruel treat-
ment of domestic animals and birds in Northern

sUtcs, Mr. Butterworth being one of the judges^
of the manuscripts submitted. As a story^
" Beautiful Joe " possesses more than ordinary-
merit, and its innuence for good cannot fail to*
be a most important one. w. h. h.

BOOKS RECEIVED.

[AH books sent to the editor of Thb Writbk wiU be ac-
knowledged under this heading. They will receive sodi farther
notice as may be warranted by their importance t« resdbrs of"
the magaaine.]

Elbvbnth Ckop, Pickings from Puck. 62 pp. Paper, 25!
cents. New York : Keppler & Sdiwarzmann. 1894.

Hawaiian Lipb. By Charles Warren Stoddard. a88 pp.
Paper, 50 cents. Chicago : F. T. Neely. 1894.

Rbmington Typbwritbk Lbssons. Bv Mrs. M. V. Lon^ley.
48 pp. Paper. Cincinnati: The Phonographic Institute-:
Company. 1893.

Caligraph Lbssons. By Mrs. M. V. Long^y. 48 pp.
Paper. Cincinnati: The Phonographic Institute Company.
»893.

Thb Pbbrlbss Cook Book. By Mrs. T. J. Kirkpatrick.
Illustrated. 320 pp. Paper, 25 cents. Springfield, Ohio:
Mast, Crowell, & Kirkpatrick. 1894.

HELPFUL HINTS ANDSUGGESTIONS.

[Under this heading it is intended to describe any handy
little contrivance that may oe of use in any way to literary
workers. Facts about home-made devices particularly are de-
sired. Paid descriptions of patented articles will not be
printed here on any terms ; but this shall not hinder any one
from letting others know gratuitously about any invention that
is of more than ordinary value to literary workers. Readers of
Thb Writbr are urged to tell for the benefit of other readers-
what little schemes they may have devised or used to make
their work easier or better. By a free exchange of personal
experiences every one will be helped, and, no matter how
simple a useful idea is, it is an advantage that every one should
know about it. Generally, the simpler the device, the greater
is its value.]

Memorandum Paper. — I, too, have adopted
the plan described by " C. D. J." in the Febru-
ary Writer. At first I stitched across one
end of the bunch of memorandum paper with^
the sewing machine, but I found that the needle
and close stitches cut the paper. I now use
wrapping twine and a chenille needle, making
one long stitch on the under side and tying the-
ends together on the upper side.

Aiia L. Lyon-Irons.

Glbnwood, Iowa.

Tablet Covers for Manuscripts. — I think
most writers will find " F. E. H.'s " plan of
using tablet covers for keeping loose leaves oi
manuscripts in order better than large adver-
tising envelopes. Since v^^ V Va?*^ x««^-

•t^O

The Writer.

pasteboard cut in strips of convenient size.
These strips, which are the full length of the
sheet, are placed one on top of the other in a
neat pile with a rubber band slipped over each
-end and one around the centre. This pile of
strips has a place in one of the long compart-
ments of my desk. When a manuscript is
ready to put by, I measure ofiE ten inches on
*one of these pieces, place a brass-edged ruler
-on the mark, and cut through the pasteboard
with a knife. In a drawer of my desk is a
nursery pin on which are strung several dozen
.^mall rubber bands. I place a sheet of paste-
board each side of the manuscript, write the
•title on the upper one with a lead pencil, and
-rslip a band across each way. If the copy is
i£nished, all I have to do is to enclose it in an
envelope or wrap it with manila paper, address
it, and attach the stamps. As rubber cannot
4dways be depended upon, I tie the package
•with linen shoe thread before mailing it.

Alia L. Lyon-Irons,

Gum WOOD, Iowa.

Pencils Sharpened at Both Ends. — I find
^advantage in using a lead pencil sharpened at
both ends. Not only is it convenient to have
two points to your pencil, to avoid the necessity
-of stopping your work to whittle in case the
lead may break, but I find that it afEords relief
in writing to turn the pencil I am using end for
end occasionally. Most shorthand writers
liabitually use pencils sharpened at both ends.

L. o. s.

Loc Amgblbs, Calif.

Filii^ Cuts and Biographies. — Now that
-portraits are such a common feature of news-
papers, portrait blocks are bound to accumu-
Jate in every newspaper composing-room. Un-
less some system for taking care of them is
adopted, the cuts are likely to get injured, and
when one is wanted it frequently cannot be
found until after long and persistent search.
Perhaps the simplest effective plan for hand-
ling cuts and the biographies that go with them
is that which is described as follows: In a
strong pasteboard box are arranged twenty-six
'envelopes lettered from A to Z. The flap of
•«ach envelope is tucked inside, so that the in-
iterior of the envelope is accessible. When a

new portrait cut is made, a proof of it is taken,
and the slip, numbered "i," for instance, is
filed, with the accompanying biographical mat-
ter, in the envelope bearing the initial of the
subject's name. The cut is numbered "i,"
with ink, to correspond, and is put on its edge
on a shelf, with the number outside, so that it
will show. When a cut is wanted, the editor
turns to the proper envelope, and the proofsllp
enclosed shows the number of the block, which
is thus instantly available. If the number of
cuts in the office is very large, it will be well to
subdivide the initial letters on the *' first letter
and first vowel " system — the five " B " envel-
opes, for instance, being marked " Ba," " Be,"
" Bi," " Bo," " Bu." Under this system bio-
graphical material relating to " Brown '* would
be filed in the " Bo " envelope. j. d. h.

Elmira, N. Y.

Ink for Writing on Glass. — The writer
who does not wear a diamond, and who may
sometime want to write a quatrain on a win-
dow pane, may prepare an ink that will serve
his purpose as follows : Heat over a hot water
bath: —

White gum lac lo puts.

Venice turpentine sputa.

Rectified turpentine 15 parts.

When the solution is complete, add five parts
of lampblack. Then produce the quatrain.

A. rL* H.

Brooklyn, N. Y.

Saving Manuscript Paper. — C. D. J., and
all others who rewrite largely and wish to save
manuscript paper, will find the following plan
an excellent one : Select the unsealed envelopes
that come in nearly every mail, rejecting those
that are not gummed. Straighten the flaps and
lay the envelopes, addressed side down, in a neat
pile, one on top of the other, until there are
twelve or fifteen of them. Moisten the gum on
the flap of the envelope at the bottom of the heap,
press the flap of the next envelope down upon it
Moisten the gum on the second, and press the
third down upon that, etc., until all are fastened.
Then with a pen or paper knife cut the ends of
the envelopes, and open each one. This makes
a convenient writing tablet or pad upon which
to make the first draft of an article, and there is

The Writer.

a great deal of satisfaction in tearing off the
leaves, one after another, as the article is
copied. Each envelope makes a sheet nearly
as large as commercial note paper, and more
may be added at either top or bottom, as they
are needed. b. d.

South Kaukauna, Wis.

LITERARY ARTICLES IN PERIODICALS.

[The publisher of Thb Writer will send to any address a
copy of any magazine mentioned in the following reference list
on receipt of the amount given in parenthesis following the name
— the amount being in each case the price of the periodical,
miik ikr** cents postagg added. Readers who send to the pub-
lishers of the periodicals indexed for copies containing the ar-
ticles mentioned in the list will confer a favor if they will men-
tion Thb Writxr when they write.]

Wild Flowbrs of Encush Spbbch in America. Edward
£ggleston. Century (38 c.) for April.

Matthbw Arnold. With portrait. Florence Earle Coates.
Century ( 38 c. ) for April.

Lincoln's Litbrary Expbrimbnts. John G. Nicolay.
Century ( 38 c. ) for April.

Thb Hbad of Sir Walter Scott. T. T. Munger. Cen-
tury ( 38 c. ) for April.

A Gentle Warning to Lecturers. Agnes Repplier.
Ferum (a8 c ) for April.

Tennyson's Reugion. With portrait. Rev. W. H. Sav-
age. Arena ( 53 c ) for April.

Me. Ruskin in Relation to Modbbn Problems. E. T.
Cook. Reprinted from National Review in Eclectic Magazine
(48 c. ) for April.

Private History of the ''Jumping Frog" Story.
Mark Twain. North A merican Review ( 53 c. ) ^O' April.

French Caricature OF To-day. Arstoe Alexandre. Sera-
net's Magazine ( a8 c. ) for April.

Mrs. Cecile Viets Jamison. With portrait. Olive Otis.
St. Nicholas ( a8 c. ) for April.

Matthew Arnold. Leslie Stephen. Reprinted from
National Review in Eclectic ( 48 c. ) for March.

A Word for Hannah More. Reprinted from Temple
Bar an Eclectic ( 48 c. ) for March.

Is the West in Literary Bondage? George Hamlin
Fitch. Calif omtan ( 28 c. ) for January.

The Moral Responsibility of thb Press. William A.
Spalding. Cali/omian (28 c.) for January.

The Only Literary Success Worth Having. Topics
of the Time. Century ( 38 c. ) for March.

How I Wrote *' Looking Backward." With portrait.
Edward Bellamy. Ladies^ Home Journal { 13 c. ) for April.

Mrs. Robert Louis Stevenson. With portrait. Alice
Graham McCollin. Ladies^ Home Journal (13 c.) for ApriL

My Literary Passions. W. D. Howells. Ladies' Home
Journal (13c) for April.

George W. Childs. With full-page portrait. Leisure
Hours ( 13 c. ) for March.

The Librarian Among His Books. (Interview with A.
R. Spofford). Julian Hawthorne. Lippincott's Magazine
( 28 c. ) for April.

A Century of the Telegraph in France. W. Lodba.
Popular Science Monthly ( 53 c. ) for April.

The Late Professor Tyndall. Herbert Spencer.
Popular Science Monthly ( 53 c ) for April.

Points in Library Management. Popular Science-
Monthly ( 53 c ) for April.

Nature in Old English Poetry. Richard Burton.
Atlantic Monthly ( 38 c. ) for April.

Early Latin Poetry. R. Y. Tyrrell. Atlantic Monthly
( 38 c. ) for April.

Bronson Alcott. Atlatitic Monthly ( 38 c. ) for April.

A Pale Girl's Face. The history of a scoop. A atory.
Ewan Macpherson. Harper's Monthly ( 38 c. ) for April.

Popular Taste in Literature. — The Reporter as a
Detbctivb. Editor's Study. Harper's Monthly (38 c. ) for
April.

Some Great Libraries of the United States. S. G.
W. Benjamin. WorthingtoiC s Magazine ( 28 c. ) for ApHL

American English. Richard Burton. 1Vo$rthington*s
Magazine ( 28 c. ) for April.

Thb Making of a Metropolitan Newspaper. C. P.
Stine. National Printer-Journalist ( 23 c. ) for January.

The Story of a Lost Letter. Facts abo«it the United
States Postal Service. Arthur Field. Demoresfs Family
Magazine ( 23 c. ) for ApriL

The Art of Illustration. W. Lewis Frazer. Ameri-
can Journal 0/ Photography ( 28 c) for March.

A Philadelphia Illustrator (Joseph Pennell).
American Journal of Photography ( 28 c. ) for March.

Are Intellectual Women Lovable? Junius Henri
Browne. IVorthingtonf s Magazine ( 28 c ) for March.

The Philosophy of Authorship. Paul Siegvolk.
New Yorh Home Journal {^c. )for January 17.

Sir Walter Scott's First Love. Caroline H. Dall.
Nation ( 13 c. ) for March 8.

The Letters of Sir Walter Scott. Reprinted from
Blackwood's Magazine in LittelPs Living Age (21 c) for
March 3.

Early Recollections of Tennyson. Reprinted from
Temple Bar in LittelVs Living Age (21 c. ) for March 10.

Photo-telegraphy. Photographic Times (18 c) for
March 30.

William D. McCrackan. With portrait. Literary
Weekly ( 13 c. ) for January 25.

Hamun Garland. With portrait. Literary Weekly
( 13 c. ) for March 8.

Walter Blackburn Harte. With portrait. Ernest
Newton Bagg. Literary Weekly ( 13 c. ) for March 15.

James Whitcomb Riley. With portrait. Literary
Weekly ( 13 c ) for March 22.

Joseph Howard, Jr. With portrait. Journalist ( 13 c. ) •
for March 24.

The Making of Great Paris Dailies. With portraits.
R. Lodian. Journalist ( 13 c. ) for March 24.

My First Book. Reprinted from the Idler in Chicago
Graphic ( 13 c ) for March 10.

William Frederick Poole, LL. D. With portrait. H.
D. Suddith. Chicago Graphic ( 13 c. ) for March 10.

Thomas Hardy. With portrait. Chicago Graphic ( 13 c|)
for March 24.

A . CoNAN Doyle. With portrait. Chicago Graphic ^13 c )
for March 31.

John Kbndrick Bangs. Portrait. Harper's Weekly
( 13 c. ) for March 17.

'<2

The Writer.

Jambs Montgombky Bailby (*^The Jkmbury New*
Man " ). With portrait. Harper's Weekly for March 24.

NEWS AND NOTES.

William Frederick Poole, the originator of
-** Poole's Index,'*^ died in Chicago March i.

George Ticknor Curtis died in New York
City March 28.

Miss Olive Schreiner, author of " The Story

Hof an African Farm," is engaged to be married.

Her betrothed, who is four or five years younger

than the bride, is Cron Wright, the son of a

well-known South African farmer and member

• of the Cape Parliament.

The good- will and plant of Godeys Magazine
have been sold for $5,000 to Harry Wakefield
Bates. A corporation is now being organized
to take over the title and continue the publica-
tion of the magazine.

The publishers of Storiettes (New York)
offers a bicycle as a prize for the best bicycle
story of from 2,000 to 3,000 words, written by a
•cyclist and sent in before July 4.

The trustees for Dartmouth college have an-
nounced the offer for 1894 for the Fletcher prize
of $500 for the best essay calculated to coun-
teract the present tendency to a "Fatal Con-
formity to the World." The following subjects
are assigned, with the date at which each essay
is to be forwarded : ( i. ) "In what ways ought
the conception of personal life and duty to be
modified?*' December 31, 1894; (2.) "Should
any restrictions, legal or moral, be placed upon
the accumulation of wealth?" December 31,
1896; (3.) "How can education be made a
greater safeguard against materialism?" De-
cember 31, 1898. These subjects may be
treated singly or in course. No essay is to
exceed 250 pages of 270 words each. A circu-
lar containing further particulars will be for-
warded to those who apply to William Jewett
Tucker, president of Dartmouth College, Han-
over, N. H., mentioning The Writer.

The American Peace Society offers three
prizes of $100, $50, and $25 for the three best
essays on "The Economic Waste of War,"
written by seniors or juniors in American col-
leges. Full information is given in the January
number of the Advocate of Peace ( Boston ).

The annual announcement of Mrs. Cfaw-
shay's literary prizes is as follows: B170Q-
Shelley-Keats In Memoriam ( endowed ) Yearly
Prizes, for the Best Essay in English, Written
by a Woman of Any Nation. — The prizes for
1894 will be as follows: Shelley's "Mont
Blanc" — first prize, £\o\ second prize, £S'
Shelley's " Letter to Maria Gisborne " — first
prize, £\o ; second prize, £1. Byron's " The
Prophecy of Dante " — first prize, £1 ; second
prize, £z los. Bryon's " The Morgante Mag-
giore "—first prize, £1 ; second prize, £z los.
Byron's "Hints from Horace" — first prize,
£S\ second prize, £z los. Bryon's "The
Devil's Drive " — first prize, £s ; second prize,
£^ I OS. Keats' "Sonnets" (20) — one prize,
£S' Essays to be sent before June i, 1894, to
Mrs. Rose Mary Crawshay, Cathedine, Bwlch,
Breconshire. Prizes awarded in August, 1894.
Essays not to exeed ten pages of twenty-one lines
in length. Only one side of the paper to be
written on. A narrow margin to be left. Pages
to be numbered. The writer's name and ad-
dress in full, to be written on the back of the
last page, also Christian name. Pages to be
fastened together with a metal clip at the left
hand corner at the top. Competitors may send
in essays on all the subjects, but cannot be
awarded more than one first prize. Essays
will be returned to those competitors only who
enclose a stamped and addressed cover. The
subject of each essay to be named outside the
wrapper and posted singly ; if this be not done,
essays will be destroyed unread. Essays may
be typed if desired. Winners of prizes are
disqualified from taking prizes in after years.

A new monthly magazine called Books and
Authors y and devoted to current religious litera
ture, has been started by the Fleming H. Revell
Company, New York. The April number con-
tains a sketch of Professor George D. Herron
by B. Fay Mills, accompanied by a portrait

Labouch^re's income from Truth is eighty
thousand dollars a year. It was born about
twenty years ago. Inheriting a large fortune
from an uncle, Mr. Labouch^re was able to
spend money on his very clever weekly until it
grew strong enough in popular favor to be a
source of abounding revenue. It is sometimes
a blessing to have a rich uncle.

The Writer.

Bafyland and Our Little Women^ hereto-
fore published by the D. Lothrop Company, will
l>e published hereafter by the Alpha Publishing
Company, 212 Boylston street, Boston. The
Pansy will continue to be published by the
D. Lothrop Company, and edited by Mrs. G. R.
Alden.

The Argosy ( Ntw York ) which was started
:as the Golden Argosy December 2, 1882, being
then an eight-page weekly paper, the size of
Harper's Weekly^ has changed its form now to
tiiat of Munse/s Magazine^ and will hereafter
~be published monthly.

Rudyard Kipling's new poem, "The Last
Rhyme of True Thomas," was copyrighted in
■this country March 19, by D. Apple ton & Co.
The Critic says : " As single poems and short
stories by the more distinguished English
writers are regularly set up and copyrighted
nowadays in this country, exchange editors
and minor publishers must indeed be lynx-eyed
to avoid infringements of copyright and all that
follows."

Romance {^t^ York) is printing this year a
series illustrating the di£Eerent varieties of the

^hort story. Thus a group of three tales illus-
trating the story of adventure appears in the
April number ; a group of three illustrating the

realistic story will be published in May; of
romantic stories, in June ; of sea stories, in

July; of mystery stories, in August; and so on.

The title of the novel which Charles Dudley
Warner has written for publication in Harper'' s
Magazine later in the year is "The Golden
House." It is a story of New York society, a
sequel to the same author's " A Little Journey
in the World," and will be illustrated with char-
acteristic pictures by W. T. Smedley.

With the April number ("Midwinter Fair
Number") the editorial and business, control
oi the Overland Monthly will be assumed by
Rounsevelle Wildman, late United States consul
at Singapore, and at Barmen, Germany. Mr.
Wildman has been more recently the proprietor
of the Idaho Statesman^ Boise City, and is also
known in literature as a contributor of stories
and sketches to Harper'^s Weekly^ St. Nicho-
las^ the Youth's Companion^ and other periodi-
•cals.

Charles L. Webster & Co. will issue, April
15, Mark Twain's new story, "Tom Sawyer
Abroad," by Huck Finn, edited by Mark Twain.
It is a continuation of the adventures of Tom
Sawyer, Huck Finn, and "Nigger Jim," and
will, no doubt, be received with delight by their
many admirers.

What is called by the Cosmopolitan (New
York ) the " most interesting literary event of
the age" is the publication, in its April number,
of a Corsican story by Napoleon. It is from " a
manuscript prepared by Napoleon when a boy
and confided to his uncle. Cardinal Fesch."

The Journalist ( New York ) celebrated its
tenth birthday anniversary March 24. The
yournalist is indispensable to any one who
wants to keep informed of the doings of news-
papers and newspaper men throughout the
country. Editor Forman is to be congratu-
lated on its success.

The Photographic Times ( New York ) for
April 6 will contain an interesting account of an
interview with Edison, and a description of bis
latest invention — the kinetoscope. The arti-
cle is illustrated by some photographic repro-
ductions of pictures taken by the instrument.
The rest of the magazine is made up of matter
interesting to every photographer, amateur or
professional.

The Literary Northwest, of St. Paul, Minn.,
has been merged into the Midland Monthly, of
Des Moines, Iowa, of which Johnson Brigham
is the editor.

A Society of Illustrators has just been organ-
ized in London, its object being to protect the
interests and defend the rights of its members
— the same work, in short, that the Society of
Authors is supposed to do for writers.

The variety of the April Century is enhanced
by a paper by Dr. Edward Eggleston, entitled
" Wild Flowers of English Speech in America,"
a topic upon which Dr. Eggleston may be con-
sidered an expert. To the same number Mrs.
Florence Earle Coates contributes a biographi-
cal and critical paper on Matthew Arnold, deal-
ing with his literary and religious influence ;
and a portrait of Mr. Arnold, engraved by
Tietze, is published as the frontispiece of the.
magazine.

The Writer.

Lovell, Coryell, & Co., who have just removed
to a new location at the corner of Sixth avenue
and West Twentieth street, New York, an-
nounce a cheaper popular edition of Mrs. Oli-
phant*s survey of the literary activities of the
last sixty years, entitled : " The Victorian Age
of English Literature."

The circulation of the Forum has increased
very largely since the price was reduced to
twenty-five cents a copy, or $3 a year. The
quality of the magazine is as excellent as ever.
The publishers say : " The aim of the Forum
has been to be worthy of its thoughtful patron-
age ; and it will henceforth be better than ever
before."

Both letter-press and pictures in the Afaga-
sine of Art(Ntyr York) for April are of the
highest excellence. An admirable article by
Cosmo Monkhouse on John Macallan Swan, A.
R. A., is one of the most interesting features
of the number. The frontispiece is an origi-
nal etching by David Law.

A life of the late Lucy Larcom is being pre-
pared by Rev. Dulaney Addison, of Beverly,
Mass., who asks for the loan of letters in pos-
session of Miss Larcom*s friends that may be
helpful to him.

Ars^ne Alexandre, the author of a recent
work on French caricature, contributes to
Scribner^s for April a bright account of the
work of Forain, Caran d*Ache, Robida, and
others who make the humorous and satirical
papers of Paris to-day. In the same number
Austin Dobson describes the famous book
shop of Robert Dodsley and the noted company
who were wont to be seen there.

The Quarterly Illustrator ( New York ) for
May contains 377 illustrations by 155 well-
known artists, including twenty-seven portraits
of American artists, reproduced from photo-
graphs. This periodical is invaluable to those
who wish to study the best examples of the
latest methods of book and magazine illustra-
tion.

The Magazine of Poetry ( Bu£EaIo ) is pub-
lished monthly now. The March number con-
tains brief biographies of Nathaniel P. Willis,
Andrew Lang, William Winter, and several
minor poets.

Edwin L. Shuman, of the Chicago yournal'
sta£E, has in press a volume entitled " Steps-
into Journalism," which treats of newsps^f-
work as a more or less exact science, and la3rs
down its laws in an informal way for beginners,,
local correspondents, and reporters. It at-
tempts to answer, among other things, the bum- -
ing question of the would-be contributor — why
editors reject manuscripts.

Leisure Hours (Philadelphia), which pub-
lished in its March number the best portrait of
George William Childs yet printed, has in its
April number a large portrait of Mr. Gladstone
that is equally good.

For the firs^ time since her marriage, Mrs.
Herbert D. Ward drops her husband's name
and writes for the April number of the Century
a striking story, " The Supply at St. Agatha's,"
over the familiar name of Elizabeth Stuart
Phelps. Her reason for taking up the old name
again, it is said, is because her present story is
purely in the line of her earlier efiEorts.

St. Nicholas for April has a sketch of the life
of Mrs. C. V. Jamison, author of that very popu-
lar story, " Lady Jane," and its successor, " Toi-
nette*s Philip," the concluding chapter of which
is published in the same number. The sketch
is accompanied by a youthful portrait of Mrs.
Jamison, taken from an oil painting.

The system of atrial telegraphy invented by
Claude Chappe is described in the Popular
Science Monthly for April by Walter Lodian in
a fully illustrated article, entitled " A Century of
the Telegraph in France."

The Educational Review (New York) has
arranged for a series of striking studies of the
spirit and ideals of the chief American universi-
ties, the first of which, written by George San-
tayana, and relating to Harvard College, appears
in the April number.

Mrs. Molesworth, the popular writer of chil-
dren's stories, is a woman of Scotch and En-
glish parentage, born in Holland. She is a
believer in methodical work, and makes it
a rule to sit down at a certain hour and compel
herself to write two pages. If, at the expira-
tion of that time, she finds she is not in the
mood for writing, she puts her work aside and .
renews the attempt later.

The

Writer;

A MONTHLY MAGAZINE TO INTEREST AND HELP ALL LITERARY WORKERS.

Vol. VII.

BOSTON, MAY, 1894.

No. 5.

Entered at the Boston Post-office as 8econd-«la88 mail matter.

CONTENTS : pack

Writer's Cramp : Irs Nature and Its Curb. Julius

Wolff. 65

Correctness, Snap, and Success. Marion Barton Bell. 6g

Editorial 70

A Cure for Writer's Cramp, 70 — Typewriter Letters
aid Signatures, 70 — [ncomes of Writers in England,
70— Ambidexterity, 71 — Poetry and Poverty, 71 — An

Awkward Phrase 71

A Vision of Literary Ghosts. Margaretta M. Morley. 71

Rejection Slips. Harriet Caryl Cox 71

Queries 72

The Scrap Basket 73

Book Reviews 73

Helpful Hints and Suggestions 75

Pigeon-hole Extension, 75— To Mend Tom Pages. . 76

Literary Articles in Periodicals 76

News and Notes 77

WRITER'S CRAMP: ITS NATURE
AND ITS CURE.

In order to understand writer's cramp it is
necessary to remember what physiologically is
involved in the education of the muscles to
perform certain complicated acts. The will
does not pick out the muscles which are to be
brought into play to hold a pen; it simply
directs itself to the result. The combination
or coordination of the muscles is determined
by the will, but is effected by another agency.

The performance of writing is a very com-
plicated process, requiring for its efficient per-
formance the integrity of a great number of
different parts, which the books explain at
length, but the naming of the various muscles
and nerves is not necessary here. Failure in
any one portion of the moving apparatus inter-
feres with the production of the movement that
is required, and the kind of failure is determined
by the location of the lesion, or, in other words,

by the nature of the process, or function, which
is lost or disturbed. The pen movements may
be guided partially by the eye, but the guidance
is defective for the most complicated acts. If
the motor nerve be damaged, the muscle is
pro tanto palsied. If the sensory nerves
be injured, sensation is defective. If
the sense of muscular condition be in
abeyance, the power to control either the
kind or force of contraction is without its
guide. Many movements are automatic; we
adopt them without education and without
effort ; others are the result of laborious prac-
tice. It would seem that the body is naturally
endowed with certain paths or lines of nerve-
action, along which all moves easily.

But the process of education in performing
writing consists in frequent repetition by an act
of the will of certain complicated movements.
Repetition makes them easy, until at length
they are executed without effort, and almost
unconsciously. By education what was once
difficult and required effort becomes more and
more easy and at last automatic. It cannot be
doubted that some changes may and do .take
place in the nutrition of the parts, through
which these lines of nerve-action run, and their
education involves structural alteration in the
organs. No man writes well who has not keen
sight and quick sense of touch, just as no man
plays the violin well who has not an acute ear
and a delicate power of feeling in his fingers.
In all cases of educated movement some
" sense " is needed, and it is an important ele-
ment in the process by which the result is ob-
tained. What happens in writer's cramp and
like maladies is a perverted nutrition of the
parts, a worn-out activity, or a degeneration,
which may arise without qm^\ ^■:fcR.\^CiSscw, 'XNNfc.

The Writer.

disease is known to pass readily from one side
of the body to the other.

Coordination of movement is a most complex
process, requiring integrity of sensation, as well
as of motor nerve and of cerebellum. The real
mischief may be some want of limiting and guid-
ing influence ordinarily through sensation from
external impressions. Although we speak of
this kind as "cramp/' there is not an actual
condition of cramp. The muscles are not para-
lyzed, and are equal to all other work, except the
particular actions in which they acquired the
disability. There is impotence in respect to
the particular position and movements involved
for writing. There is no disorder of intelli-
gence, no lack of ideas, and the motor appara-
tus is intact ; but the muscles, so long and con-
stantly employed in the prehension of the pen,
the poising of the hand and forearm, and in the
movement of the pen, become unequal to the
task.

Under the head of writer's ** cramp " are in-
cluded various morbid conditions, for it is only
in common that they disturb or render impossi-
ble the delicate and complicated movements re-
quired for writing. It is impossible to classify
with any degree of accuracy the several forms
in accordance with their genesis, while the
symptoms of disturbance of, or interference
with, particular vocations, which is common
to them, keeps them sufficiently together in
practice.

Three divisions are suggested by Benedict —
the spastic, the tremulous, and the paralytic
form.

It may not be amiss to give quite in detail
the symptomatology of the disease as set forth
by various authors, for no two persons are
afflicted exactly alike, and those who suspect
they may be afflicted will thus be able to deter-
mine with more accuracy whether the symptoms
apply to their own case.

The spasms of the hand, with incoordination,
which are manifested in writing appear most
frequently within the territory of the median
nerve, of the radial nerve, or, finally, of the
ulnar nerve, the spasm in the direction of the
median nerve may be tonic, in which case the
t^iumb and index finger are curved inward and
s^ize the pen convulsively; at other times the

spasm is clonic, and then these two members
are forced to perform a movement of propul-
sion, which often causes the pen to twirl around
its own axis, or presses the pen firmly to the
paper.

In the beginning of the affection — and it
comes like a thief in the night — a disagreeable
sensation of tension in the hand is felt only
after the patient has been writing for a long
time, and hardly attracts attention at first, until
the hand becomes more and more fatigued, and,
together with the fingers, soon becomes at-
tacked with tremor, which forces the patient to
rest frequently while writing. As this diflSculty
in writing becomes more marked, the forma-
tion of the thick and fine strokes becomes inter-
fered with, and the letters become small, poorly
formed, and indistinct. When the attempt is
made to correct this imperfection by increasing
the attention and the efforts to handle the pen,
an increase in the spasms and weakness of the
arm and hand are the result. This is soon fol-
lowed by complete spasm of the flexors and
extensors, and contraction in certain muscles
of the fingers, producing a painful tension, more
marked in the extensor muscles of the forearm,
but involving even the muscles of the shoulder
and thorax. The growth of the disability is
slow, but sure.

Fatigue in the much-used muscles, pain in
the forearm, in the wrist, and in the hand are
experienced. So strong is the sense of fatigue,
and it may be pain, that the arm is steadied,
and the pen is seized with a firmer grip, and
great efforts are made to relieve the fatigued
muscles by writing with the whole arm. The
writing changes its character and becomes ir-
regular. The muscles of the first three fingers
after a time are given to fibrillary trembling.
The thumb is especially affected, and is also
often the seat of a dull, aching pain.

Finally, writing becomes impossible. The
pen is taken up, a strong effort of the will tries
to force the muscles to the task, but they obsti-
nately refuse to execute the movements. Super-
vision of the higher senses over the muscular
movement ceases to be exercised. In other
words, the mode of writing becomes largely
automatic. For a time the patient writes bet-
ter, when he is not occupied in directing the

The Writer.

formation of every letter, and allows the mus-
cles, as it were, to take care of themselves.
Constantly, however, he feels the necessity of
mental action, and this action invariably in-
creases the difficulty, until the very moment the
attempt is made to write, the pen, actuated by
the muscles of the fingers, executes such dis-
orderly movements as to bear no analogy what-
ever to the words which he attempts to write.

The spasm is much worse if the patient is
•excited or is particularly anxious to do his best.
Besides fibrillary trembling, a condition of tonic
-spasm seizes the thumb and flexors of the fin-
ders. It is quite natural that the great e£Eorts
which the patient makes to relieve the fatigued
muscles should affect his nerves, and the oftener
he fails, the more nervous he becomes. We
may safely assert that very seldom is a sufferer
from writer's cramp and similar muscular affec-
tions entirely free from nervousness. There
are still other groups of cases in which marked
paresis or weakness of the flexors of the thumb
and fingers exist. I have always noticed that
all the symptoms mentioned occur only during,
and shortly after, the patient has been engaged
in his special act of writing, telegraphing, piano-
playing, or similar work, disappearing after a
few moments' rest, to appear again on the re-
sumption of the same action. A patient with
writer's cramp may perform all other acts with
the hand and arm with impunity, except writ-
ing. In many cases he can write with a pencil
for a short time comparatively well, but as soon
as he attempts to use the pen, his muscles do
not obey his will. The same applies to all
other mechanical occupations.

The telegraph operator is very often able to
-write or draw without the slightest difficulty,
but as soon as he touches the key, he is power-
less. I could mention many similar cases.

Now let us consider the theory, for it is only
theory, as to the nature of this difficulty. From
my point of view I divide all cases of this kind
into two classes, local and central.

It is only those of the local cases that I at-
tempt to cure. It is my first duty, conse-
•quently, to determine first the nature of the
•case before me. If it is a central one, I have
generally found that not only the special mus-
cles used in writing, telegraphing, etc., are

affected, but that the whole arm, very often the
whole side of the body, shows a paralytic condi-
tion, generally accompanied by a sort of severe
tremor or numbness. This, however, is not
always so. Now, as to the local cases ; gener-
ally, as I have said already, both nerves and
muscles are affected.

I come now to the most critical point of this
distressing disease, to the causes. They are as
various, I think, as the effects. From my ex-
perience I divide the causes into three classes:
( I ) weakness of the nerves, ( 2 ) weakness of the
muscles, and (3) weakness of both nerves and
muscles.

The nervous system is so complicated and so
finely organized, that it is very difficult to un-
derstand why sufferers from these troubles are
able to perform their usual duties without
difficulty to-day and find themselves helpless to-
morrow. It is equally hard to account for the
fact that some are much more disposed to con-
tract these troubles than others. In cases of
this kind, more or less disturbance of the
activity of the nerves is apparent, causing in a
great many cases an oversensitiveness. This I
will illustrate as follows: Some patients when
alone can get along with their work fairly well,
but when they are conscious of observation
they are more or less disturbed. The same can
be said of one afflicted with any impediment of
speech, or with stuttering. He will talk with
much less difficulty when he is unobserved
than when he is closely watched.

The second cause is weakness of the muscles.
Particular muscles of the hand and arm may be
constantly exercised in daily duties and become
very strong, while others, through unintentional
neglect, become correspondingly weak and
flabby. This uneven condition will eventually
produce cramps and trembling of the weak
muscles, which later on will be conveved to the
Stronger muscles, that should work in harmony
with the weak ones.

The third cause is weakness of both nerves
and muscles. These cases are by far the more
numerous and, unfortunately, the more difficult
ones, and require great patience and pains-
taking effort on my part, as well as on the part
of the patients, and are due to an overworked
condition of both muscles ^\\sL \v^xn^'5». X^n^n^

THE Writer.

never been able to discover positively, and with
perfect satisfaction to myself, which condition
is primary and which secondary. Is the low
condition of the nerves consequent on that of
the muscles, or is the reverse the case ?

Naturally, one would suppose that perfect
rest would benefit these sufferers, but it seldom
does. When rest is found to cure a supposed
case of this kind, one can safely say that the
patient was never truly affected by real writer's
cramp.

The means employed in my method of treat-
ment are very simple, consisting in massage
and gymnastic exercises. To repeat what Dr.
Douglass Graham says in his book *' On Mas-
sage," the vaguest generalities exist as to the
manner of doing massage, even among the best
authors on the subject. It is no matter how
precisely and carefully worded the description
of it maybe, it is not likely to be comprehended,
unless one sees, feels, and attempts to do mas-
sage himself, and compares his efforts with
those of others ; for massage, though it may be
studied as a science, has, like everything else
in medicine and surgery, to be practiced as an
art ; and the same may be said of this that Dr.
John Hilton said of surgery: "There is much
that cannot be systematized, that cannot be con-
veyed from mind to mind in books and articles."

The gymnastics are active and passive
motions, consisting in stretching and contract-
ing the arm and fingers. The fundamental
methods of my treatment can easily be con-
ceived by every medical man, but it is not the
same with the execution. This must be adapted
to every special case. First of all, the really
affected muscles must be recognized and sub-
jected to treatment by massage and gymnastics
in a special manner. To do that requires ex-
perience, accurate knowledge of the manifold
appearances of the writer's cramp, and a cer-
tain natural ability.

A leading factor in the development of my
method was my experience as a teacher of pen-
manship, especially as regards the manner of
holding and guiding the pen. Both should for
each individual be adapted to the individual
formation of the hand and forearm, and not
according to a general or normal rule. This is
not only the main point, but the basis of my

treatment. Writer's cramp cannot be cured
according to a general rule, or according to a
specified method. No two hands are alike,,
and while general precepts in writing may be
observed, the rules must be modified and
adapted to the individual. A method must be
found for the hand in question — not the
reverse. Each individual hand must be studied^
not only by the anatomist as to its form and the
formation of all its muscles, not only by the
physiologist in reference to the functions and
actions of the muscles, but, above all, by the
teacher of writing in reference to the special and
particular way in which the individual holds his
pen and writes, what muscles he prefers to make
use of. No two men perform the action of writ-
ing in exactly the same manner, and writer's-
cramp does not affect the very same muscles with
equal intensity in all cases. It needs not only
a good physician, but a good and experienced
teacher of writing to recognize quickly the
muscles principally affected, and consequently
direct the treatment where it rightly belongs.
These muscles have in one sense to be taught
writing over again. They must work correctly
and coordinate themselves accurately in respect
to this occupation alone. I have said before that
the patients can perform any other work, except
writing, without being seized by cramps. The
affected extremity needs no general massage, na
general gymnastics, no general tonic treatment^
because it is in nowise impaired in its general
usefulness ; it needs, so to say, restoration of
one particular functional ability, and to do this,
an adept, or expert conversant with the occupa-
tion, and capable of imparting it to others, is,
above all, fitted for the task, if he combines his
dexterity in that particular occupation with suf-
ficient anatomical and physiological knowledge^
Before I begin my treatment, I always examine
the patient's mode and style of writing, the way
he holds his pen, the position of the arm, hand,
and fingers, the movements he makes, the way
he has adopted in upward and downward
strokes, in vertical, horizontal, or slanting
directions. I study his individual method of
writing, and notice all the faults in the same.

During the treatment, while the normal func-
tions of the affected muscles are being restored,,
the patient receives instruction in the correct

The Writer.

position for holding the pen, and in the method
-of writing, as adapted to his individuality. I
have mentioned only penmanship as an ex-
ample. All other functional disturbances in the
•occupations of telegraphing, typewriting, piano
-and violin playing have to be treated exactly in
<he same manner. I have studied and prac-
ticed them all ; I can telegraph and I play the
piano and violin, I can sew and knit, and am
well acquainted with all mechanical manual
occupations.

There are more patients afflicted with this
•complaint in the new world than in the old.
America stands preeminent in every kind of
^ork that requires manual dexterity and skill.
American workmen, besides, accomplish more

in a given time than those of any other country.
The high extent to which division of labor has
been carried here has a good deal to do with
this. The spirit of competition here is greater
than anywhere else.

If one lady writes 2,000 envelopes in one day,
another one immediately strives to break the
record by an additional hundred. This holds
good in all departments of technical labor. Un-
told numbers of people are afiEected, partially or
completely, by this disease, and lose to a greater
or less degree their chance for earning a liveli-
hood. These, I maintain, can almost all be

cured.

Julius Wolff.

Nkv York, N. Y.

CORRECTNESS, SNAP, AND SUCCESS.

A score and more of years of contributing
-ought to make it possible for a writer to throw
out some hints that might prove useful to new,
if not young, writers ; and probably they will
not feel hurt if the shoes offered fit so well
that they can wear them.

Of course, to be an accepted contributor
means more than appears upon the surface, and
sharp eyes are needed to look beneath the top
of the waters of discouragement to find the real
reason why papers are so often declined, with
or without thanks. Who cares to receive the
printed slips that tell that the editor is grateful
ior the privilege of reading the rejected manu-
-script.

Now, what is the reason that it is returned, —
that is, allowing that sometimes the hopper is
iull, or the editorial purse low 1

New writers who seize upon some passing
€ad, some taking item that is of interest, and
•can work it up to a successful point, often run
right up to the top of the ladder that others are
still climbing with difficulty. But it is not every
one who can write an entertaining letter to a
€riend, who can write an article that is worth
liard cash to a busy editor who has a vast

amount of material at his disposal. Natural
gifts count for a great deal, but grammar and
punctuation count for quite as much. How
tiresome it is to be jerked back by a semi-colon
when a comma ( only a breath ) is all that needs
to find place in the lines ; and how very un-
necessary new writers think it is to study
punctuation.

Then the articles often lack snap; they are
written in a desultory, letter ish style, that makes
the editor weary. Editors who sit beyond the
closed doors of their sanctums are not half so
mean as they are thought to be. They know a
desirable thing when they see it, and their fin-
gers are so trained by experience that they can
tell a good manuscript almost by touch.

But take the opinion of one who knows, if
you will, for it is true: a well-written, well-
punctuated, snappy article, that does not bear
the wear and tear of travel, must find a resting
place when it arrives at the proper door; for
even with plenty on hand, few editors will not
push others aside for what pleases their taste

and fancy.

Marion Barton Bell,

Orangb, n. J.

THE Writer.

The Writer.

PnbUshed monthly by The Writer Publishing Company, 28a
Washington street, Rooms q and 10, Boston, Mass.

WILLIAM H. HILLS. . . . Editor.

%*Thb Writer is published the first day of every month.
It will be sent, post-paid, Onb Ybar for Onb Dollar.

%^ All drafts and money orders should be made payable to
The Writer Publishing Co. Stamps, or local checks, shotild
not be sent in payment for subscriptions.

%*Thb Writer will be sent only to those who have paid for
it in advance. Accounts cannot be opened for subscriptions,
and names will not be entered on the list unless the subscription
order is accompanied by a renuttance. When subscriptions ex-
pire the names of subscribers will be taken off the list unless an
order for renewal, accompanied by remittance, is received. Due
notice will be given to every subscriber of the expiration of his
subscription.

%* No sample copies of Thb Writer will be sent free.

%*The American News Company, of New York, and the
New England News Company, of Boston, and their branches,
are wholesale agents for The Writer. It may be ordered
from any newsdealer, or direct, by mail, trom the publisher.

\* Everything that may be printed in the magazine will be
written expressly for it.

*«*Not one line of paid advertisement will be printed in Thr
Writer outside of the advertising pages.

%♦ Advertising rates will be sent on request.

%* Contributions not used will be returned, if a stamped and
addressed envelope is enclosed.

THE WRITER PUBLISHING CO.,

28a Washington Street ( Rooms 9 and 10),

( P. O. Box 1905. ) Boston, Mass.

Vol. VII.

May, 1894.

No. 5.

The article in this number of The Writer
on " Writer's Cramp," by Julius Wolff, a teacher
of penmanship at Frankfort-on-th&-Main, who
is now in New York, will undoubtedly be read
with special interest. Mr. Wolff's method of
treatment may be described as follows : It con-
sists of a combined employment of gymnastics
and massage. The gymnastics are of two
kinds : First, active, in which the patient moves
the fingers, hands, forearms, and arms in ail
directions possible, each muscle being made to
contract from six to twelve times, with consid-
erable force, and with a pause after each move-
ment, the whole exercise not exceeding thirty
minutes, and being repeated two or three times
daily ; second, passive, in which the same move-
ments are made as in the former, except that

each one is arrested by another person in a
steady and regular manner. This may be re-
peated as often as the active exercise. Mas-
sage is to be practiced daily for about twenty
minutes, beginning at the periphery; percus-
sion of the muscles is considered an essential
part of the massage. Combined with this are
peculiar lessons in pen-prehension and writings
Mr. Wolff has had great success in the treat-
ment of writer's cramp abroad.

» »

No one has ever yet been able to explain why-
it is that people who own typewriters, and use
them for making manuscripts, so frequently
think it necessary to write the letters to accom-
pany them with a pen, or to sign the manu-
scripts with a pen-written, instead of a machine-
written, name. Every one knows, of course,,
that a typewritten signature to a business-
document or an important letter is not regarded
as a signature in a court of law, and so there
is a reason why important letters or contracts-
should be signed with a pen, but for ordinary
letters — like one submitting a manuscript to an.
editor, for instance — a typewritten signature is
all right. Just as a manuscript should never
be offered pen-written if typewriting is possi-
ble, so a letter sent with a manuscript should
always be typewritten, if the writer possesses a
machine — signature and all. The reason is^
of course, that the typewritten letter is more
legible than one written with a pen, and in the
signature especially legibility is a matter of
some consequence. Even people who write a
fairly legible hand often write their names so-
blindly that a skilful proof-reader would be
puzzled to make them out. The typewriter
overcomes this difficulty. Why not use it^
when it is at hand?

» ♦

Writing of the incomes of the professional
classes in England, Price Collier in the Febru-
ary number of the Forum estimates that there
are probably about 250 people in England wha
are making some kind of a living at writing
novels. Of these, about fifty, with this and
other work, clear more than $5,000 a year; a
dozen make $10,000; and perhaps two or three,
$15,000. Essayists and poets, as a rule, make
nothing, and the great majority of novelists

The Writer.

make nothing. Journalists of the first rank
make $5,000 a year, but, except a very few
editors, none reach $10,000. Journalists who
are reporters or paragraphists, and do all kinds
of work, make from $1,000 to $2,000 a year.
It would be interesting to get authentic figures
regarding the incomes of literary workers in the
United States — but authentic figures of this
kind have never been secured as yet. There is
a sort of glittering generality, indeed, about the
estimates that Mr. Collier gives.

* *

The ability to write with either hand at
will, or with both hands at once, used to be a
very rare accomplishment, but a good many
authors have it now. They use the typewriter.

It is an odd fact that "poetry" is an anagram
for "poverty," with one letter lacking — and
that letter is a "V"!

»
* *

'* So utterly unnecessary an unhappy ending "
( April Writer, p. 58) was really so uttterly
unnecessary an unhappy sentence, that it is not
strange that one of the readers of The Writer
should devote a postal card to objecting to it.

w. H. H.

♦

A VISION OF LITERARY GHOSTS.

He had been writing busily all the evening.
At length he came to the last paragraph. After
composing an elaborate note to the Editor, he
folded his manuscript, sealed and addressed the
envelope, and rang for his servant to put it in
the post. This done, he "betook himself to his
couch."

But the night was warm, and he could not
sleep. The air seemed to be filled with voices.

Presently a woman's voice rose higher than
the rest and said : " My name is Gladys, yet I
am not glad. I am a heroine. My author
states that I am beautiful, with a snow-white
skin, ebon hair, ruby lips, and emerald eyes. I
am appalled at this description, and am afraid
to be alone with myself ! "

Then a melancholy voice replied: "Thou art
not alone, fair Gladys; for I, the heavy villain,
am obliged to follow thee over the earth. I
grow extremely weary, yet find the pursuit not

so humiliating as that solecism which constrains
me, in the last chapter, to kill myself in France
by eating a poison persimmon — a fruit which
is not poisonous, and which does not grow in
France. Ah, woe is me ! "

Here a third voice cried: "Your shame is
great, but scarcely equals mine. I ! I use bad
grammar on the very first page ! I * laugh ' every
remark I make, or * frown,* or * storm,' or * rage '
it ; but never, never simply say it, as other peo-
ple do. I am * garmented ' in men's clothes ; I
smoke furiously, and from time to time exclaim
* By Jove ! ' and pull my long moustache — yet I
am only an animated broomstick, and not a
man."

Whereupon a small, childish voice made
moan : " But my trouble is greater still ; for
behold in me a weird monstrosity. I am a
child who never said a childish thing ! "

" And we ! " cried a whole chorus of voices.
" Pray listen to us ! From beginning to end,
we have been obliged to prattle about the hero-
ine's virtues, the villain's knavery, and the
hero's love. Not a word of interest has ever
passed our lips, just because we were created
to * help the plot along.' "

At last the writer slept.

A few days later his manuscript was returned,
"with thanks."

Said he : "I wonder why ? "

Margaretta M. Morley.

Clbvbland. Ohio.

REJECTION SLIPS.

In looking over a box full of rejection slips,
one cannot help being amused at the different
wording.

One magazine has a large supply of matter
already on hand, etc. — from which the untried
author would think that if it were not for the
articles already on hand, his humble effort
would be taken.

Another says that the article is not exactly
suited to the wants of the publication to which
it was sent, but doubtless it will find acceptance
elsewhere. This in very many cases is likely
to be true.

Others briefly say that they have no use for
the article, which they now t^^v\\wHvv<^x^«^^5>s»,

The Writer.

The astonishing part of it all, however, is
the gratitude the editors seem to feel for the
"honor" of having been enabled to read the
article ! To take rejection slips at exactly
what they say would be to believe that really
your article is quite wonderful, and that the
editor is honored and pleased at having been
able to read it; furthermore, there is no doubt
but that some other editor will find it exactly
suited to his needs; for "rejection does not
necessarily imply lack of merit."

Now, why can't editors use a simple business
form that expresses what they mean, and yet
which does not imply that the author is a soft-
hearted creature who will be crushed by a
refusal ?

If the author is going into the fight, he must
expect to be treated^ a business-like way.

If the editor doesn't want his goods, that is
enough, let him return them; but don't, I beg,
enclose those wearisome slips.

How I blessed the editor who enclosed with
my rejected story a bit of paper, on which was
written, " Not available."

This was sensible.

Of course, we writers don't like refusals — no
one does. But we expect them, and editors
can make them less unwelcome if they will only
remedy the wording of their rejection slips.
ABiNciTON, Mass. Harriet Caryl Cox.

QUERIES.

Which is right, " Tomorrow is Sunday," or
" To-morrow will be Sunday " } a. f. g.

[ The editor of the yournal of Commerce^ who
recently answered a similar question, took the
ground that, according to the technical rules of
grammar, the phrase " to-morrow is " is correct.
That which is always true in given conditions,
he said, should, when stated within those con-
ditions, be put in the present tense. Moreover,
he argued, "to-morrow is" is sanctioned by the
best usage, which is the ultimate test of correct-
ness in speech. He cited examples from the
standard English version of the Bible, as fol-
lows : " To-morrow is the rest of the holy Sab-
bath," Ex. xvi : 23 ; "To-morrow is the feast of
the Lord," Ex. xxxvi 15;" Behold, to-morrow
is the new moon," I. Samuel xx : 5. And so in

Shakespeare : " To-morrow is the joyful day,"
"As You Like It," Act iv., scene 3; "Know
to-morrow is the wedding day," " Taming of the
Shrew," Act iii., scene i ; " And say, to-morrow
is St. Crispin," " Henry V.," Act iv., scene 3 ;
"For, lords, to-morrow is a busy day," " Richard
III.," Act v., scene 3.

It is hard, of course, to oppose such authori-
ties as the Bible and Shakespeare, but as a
matter of fact they are not infallible, so far as
their use of English is concerned, and in the
case of "tomorrow is" it is doubtful if their
usage in the passages quoted coincides with that
of the language of the present day. It is the
habit of English-speaking people to put future
things into the future tense, and even though
" to-morrow is " may seem technically correct, the
futurity of the idea makes the use of the future
tense not only allowable, but natural and desira-
ble. The argument that "to-morrow " exists only
with relation to " to-day " applies equally well
to "yesterday," but no one would think of say-
ing for that reason, " Yesterday is Friday."
" Yesterday was Friday " and " Tomorrow will
be Sunday" are equally correct for common
usage. The grammarian and the purist may
stick to " Tomorrow is Sunday," if they will. —
w. H. H. ]

Can The Writer, or any reader thereof,
tell me the name of the author of a poem en-
titled " Magdalena " .^ It is a story of a lady of
Seville, in Spain. I have asked for the author's
name several times, and of as many publica-
tions, in vain ; and now I come to The Writer
for similar information. 1 shall be grateful to
any one for the information desired. n. h.

[ The editor of The Writer has never seen
the poem referred to. Can any reader give
" N. H. " the information desired t — w. h. h. ]

Which is the higher authority, the dictionary
or the rhetorics ? For example : " To con-
sider." One of its definitions in Webster is
"to estimate, think, regard, view; as, I con-
sider him wise, a philosopher." The rhetorics
agree in saying that this use of "consider" is
incorrect. I could give a number of examples
where the two authorities differ. o. t. c.

[ The aim of the dictionaries is to give all the
meanings of any word in popular use. The
aim of the rhetorics is to tell what good usage
is, not what popular usage is. Accordingly, in

THE WRITER.

case of conflict between the dictionary and the
rhetorics, the rhetorics must be regarded as
rthe higher authority. — w. H. H.]

THE SCRAP BASKET.

I am more amused than surprised at a sug-
gestion ol- process offered by " B. D.," of South
Kaukauna, Wis., in the April Writer. He
wants to save paper at the cost of ingenuity
and time. The day has come when sulphite
.fibre is king of cotton and linen, both. Ameri-
can paper, whether for manuscript, pencil, or
web-perfecting type impression, is cheaper than
thought itself! At Kaukauna, every working
day in the year, are produced many tons of scrib-
blers' medium, at so low a price per ton that he
would not care to weigh his original ideas in the
balance. His thrift would have been com-
mendable when paper was at a premium, but
that is not the case now, nor will it ever be
again, unless the supply of wood shall become
•exhausted. H. c. l.

Jbrsby City Heights, N. J.

BOOK REVIEWS.

Thb Experimental Novel, and Other Essays. By Emile
Zola. Translated by Belle M. Sherman. 413 pp. Cluth,
,fa.oo. New York : Cassell Publishing Co. 1893.

'Whatever one may think of Zola's work or
-Zola's art, his ideas regarding literary principles
are interesting — perhaps the more so because
they are not always in accordance with the canons
• of established literature. This book of his is a
•collection of literary essays, of which '• The Ex-
perimental Novel" is but one. Others are en-
titled: '* Naturalism on the Stage," *'The Influ-
ence of Money in Literature," and '* The Novel,"
some of the chapter subdivisions of the last-
named paper being: *' The Reality,'* ** Personal
Expression," *'The Critical Formula Applied
to the Novel," " Description," and " Morality."
Perhaps the most interesting part of the book
Js the essay on *'The Novel."

"The greatest praise that could be formerly
•given to a novelist," says Zola, "■ was to say that
'he had imagination.' To-day this phrase
-would be looked upon almost as a criticism.
This only goes to show that all the conditions
of the novel have changed. Imagination is no
longer thepredominatingquality of the novelist.

" Balzac and Stendhal are the men who lead
'this evolution; it is dating from their works
.that imagination no longer counts in the novel.
X.ook at our great contemp^oraneous writers,
Oustave Flaubert, Edmond and Jules de Gon-

court, Alphonse Daudet : their talent does not
come from what they have imagined, but from
the manner in which they show forth nature in
its intensity.

"I insist upon this fall of the imagination,
because in it I see the characteristic of the
modern novel. While the novel was a recrea-
tion for the mind, an amusement, from which
was asked only animation and vivacity, it is
easily understood that the important thing was
to show an abundance of invention before any-
thing else. Even when the historical novel and
the novel with a purpose appeared, even then
it was still imagination which reigned omni-
present, either in calling up vanished times or
in the form of arguments, which characters,
formed according to the need of the author,
expounded. With the naturalistic novel and
the novel of observation and analysis, the con-
ditions change at once. The novelist invents,
indeed, still : he invents a plan, a drama ; only
it is a scrap of a drama, the first story he comes
across and which daily life furnishes him with
always. Then in the arrangement of the work
this invention is only of very slight importance.
The facts are there only as the logical results
of the characters. The great thing is to set up
living creatures, playing before the readers the
human comedy in the most natural manner pos-
sible. All the efforts of the writer tend to hide
the imaginary under the real.

" One could write an interesting paper on the
subject of how our great novelists of to-day
work. They base nearly all their works on
profuse notes. When they have studied with
scrupulous care the ground over which they are
to walk, when they have gotten information
fronf all the possible sources, and when they
hold in their hands the manifold data of which
they have need, then only do they decide to sit
down and write. The plan of the work is brought
to them by the data themselves, because the
facts always classify themselves logically, this
one before that one. Inevitably the work takes
shape; the story builds itself up from all the
observations gathered together, from all the
notes taken, one leading to the other, through
the linking of the lives of the characters, and
the climax is nothing more than a natural and
inevitable consequence. You can easily see, in
this work, how little part imagination has in it
all. We are very tar removed, for example,
from George Sand, who, they say, put herself
before a mass of white paper, and, starting out
with the first idea, went on and on without slop-
ping:, composing in a steady stream, relying
solely on her imagination, which brought her
as many pages as she needed to complete a
volume.

"Suppose that one of our naturalistic novel-
ists wishes to write a novel on theatrical U€e..
He sets out with t.\\\s ^ttTWC'3\\^^-i.>^\'<^^>^^'*^-

The Writer.

His first care is togather together in his notes all
that he knows of this world which he wishes to
depict. He has known such and such an actor,
he has witnessed such and such a play. Here
are data already, the best, for they have ripened
within himself. Then he will set about the busi-
ness, he will get the men who are best informed
on the subject to talking, he will collect their ex-
pressions, their stories, and their portraits.
That is not all ; he then turns to written docu-
ments, reading up all that he thinks will be of
the slightest service to him. Finally, he visits
the places, lives a few days in the theatre, so as
to gain a perfect knowledge of all its recesses ;
he passes some evenings in an actress' rooms,
steeping himself as much as possible in the
surrounding atmosphere. And, once his data
are complete, his novel, as I have said, makes
itself. The novelist needs but to distribute his
facts logically. From what he has learned the
plot of his drama, the story of which he has
need as a general frame for his facts, will shape
itself. The interest no longer lies in the
strangeness of the story ; on the contrary, the
more commonplace and general it is, the more
typical it becomes. Make your real characters
move in real surroundings. To give your
reader a scrap of human life, that is the whole
purpose of the naturalistic novel."

'* To-day the ruling characteristic of the nov-
elist," Zola goes on to say, *'is the sense of
reality — to feel nature and to be able to depict
her as she really is. . . . A great novelist should
have the sense of reality, and also personal ex-
pression. ... In a word, in a study of human-
ity, I blame all description which is not an
account of the environment which determines
and completes man. I have sinned enough my-
self to have the right to recognize the truth."

So much for Zola's literary creed. His moral
creed is expressed in another essay, where he
says : " To write badly is the only crime which
I can admit in literature. ... A well-made
phrase is a good action ... In my opinion,
the unworthy begins where talent ends."

There are many passages in the volume,
besides these, that are worthy of quotation. No
student of the literary art can fail to be in-
terested in it, no matter how much at variance
his own ideas may be with what the author
says. As for Zola's own opinion of his work,
that is expressed in his introduction, where he
says : *' Doubts assail me, and I ask myself. Is
it possible that these articles will be found to
be my best work? For I am overcome with
shame when I think of the enormous pile of
romantic rhetoric which lies behind me."

w. H. H.

Authors and Their Public in Ancient Times. Hy Oeorce
Haven Putnam. 309pp. Cloth, $1.50. New York: G.
P. Putnam's Sons. 1894.

Mr. Putnam's book, as its sub title says, is "a
slcetch 0/ J/ter^ry conditions and of the relations

with the public of literary producers, from the-
earliest times to the invention of printing." It.
was originally written, the author says, to forn*
a preliminary chapter, or general introduction,.,
to a history of the origin and development of'
property in literature, a subject in which he
has for some time interested himself. He^
points out that in the modern sense of the term,.,
no such thing as literary property existed ia
ancient times, or, in fact, until some consider-
able period had elapsed after the invention of
printing. It was not until publishers began tOi-
make arrangements to give compensation to con-
temporaneous writers for the preparaton of
original works, or for original editorial work
associated with classic texts, and not until, ins
connection with such arrangements, the pub-
lishers succeeded in securing from the state
authorities, in the shape of "privileges," a.
formal recognition of their right to control the
literary work then produced, that literary
property, in the sense of intellectual property^,
came into an assured and recognized, though
still restricted, existence. Property of this
kind did not exist in Athens, in Alexandria, or
in classic Rome, although there is evidence
that in these cities there gradually came intO'
existence a system, or a practice, under which,
authors secured some compensation for their
labors. The evidences, or indications, of pay-
ments to authors are mainly to be traced in
scattered references in their own works. It is-
only when the Augustan age of Roman litera-
ture is reached that we find in the works of
such writers as Cicero, Martial, Horace, Catul-
lus, and a few others a sufficient number of
references upon which to base some theory, at
least, of the relations of the authors with their
publishers, and also a<; to the publishing and
bookselling methods of the time. Mr. Putnam^
has sketched in this book these "beginnings of
literary property," and has prefixed some pre-
liminary sketches concerning the beginnings of
literature in Chaldea, Egypt, India, Persia,
China, and Japan. His work is a most interest-
ing and instructive one, and it is to be hoped'
that the engrossing business cares and the in-
creased necessity for economizing^ eyesight, to-
which he refers in his preface, will not prevent
him from carrying to completion his proposed
sketch of the development of property in litera-
ture from the invention of printing down to the
present day. w. h. h.

German for Americans. Py Dr. Jacob Mayer. Fourth-,
edition. 219 pp. Cloth, $1.00. Philadelphia: I. Kohler.
1894-

Dr. Mayer's *' German for Americans" has-
reached its fourth edition — perhaps the best
evidence of its value as a means for self-in-
struction in the German language. The plan
of the book is excellent. The pronunciation oi
each German word used is given with the word»
warranting correctness in reading. The gram»

The Writer.

matical rules, though simple and comparatively
few, cover the whole ground. The collection
of phrases and dialogues is arranged with due
regard to the peculiarities of the language and
the needs of the student at home and abroad.
The vocabulary, containing about 5,000 words,
classifies nouns according to their gender, in
three columns on each page. Throughout, the
book is a sensible one. Its method is practical,
and the results of using it are likely to be good.

w. H. H.

Tm First Thrbb Ybars of Childhood. By Bernard Perez.
Edited and translated by Alice M. Christie. 295 pp. Qoth,
$1.50. Syracuse, N. Y. : C. W. Bardeen. 1894.

Nothing can be of greater human interest
than the study of the mental development of
the child. M. Perez's book is the result of his
having set himself to follow out in little chil-
dren the gradual awakening of those faculties
which constitute the psychic activity. For
such a work, as a lover of children, a trained
psychologist, and a writer of paedagogic litera-
ture, M. Perez was admirably qualified. His
book is not a biographical sketch of a single
child. He has made special note of the prog-
ress of one or two children who have come
more especially within his observation, but his
record is a wide and comprehensive one, com-
paring observations of a large number of chil-
dren and arranging the results attained. Its
scope may best be understood from mention of
some of the chapter headings, viz. : *' The Fac-
ulties of the Infant Before Birth," " The P'irst
Impressions of the New-born Child," " Motor
Activity at the Beginning of Life — at Six
Months — at Fifteen Months," "The First
Perceptions," "General and Special Instincts,"
"The Faculties of Intellectual Acquisition and
Retention," " On the Elaboration of Ideas,"
*• On Expression and Language," " The ^Es-
thetic Sense in Little Children," " The Moral
Sense." M. Perez looks at the infant from the
educator's point of view, and his book is a
practical guide to the mother and teacher. It
IS both scientific and popular at once, and every
intelligent parent will find it to be a book of
unusual interest. w. h. h.

Thb Book op thb Fair. An historical and descriptive pres-
entation of the world's science, art, and industry, as viewed
through the Columbian Exposition at Chicago in 1893 By
Hubert Howe Bancroft. Part IX. 40 pp. Paper, $1.00.
Chicago and San Francisco : The Bancroft Company. 1894.

Part IX. of the sumptuous Bancroft " Book
of the Fair " continues the lavishly illustrated
account of the wonders of Machinery hall, at
the Chicago exposition* including pictures of
the modern paper-making machine, printing
presses, paper-cutters, book-binder's ruling and
stitching machines, and one of the fast type-
setting machines. In the same part is the be-
ginning of the thirteenth chapter, describing
and illustrating the Agricultural building and

its exhibits. The value of this work becomes-
more evident with the publication of each new
number. w. h. h.

Practical Synonyms. By John H. Bechtel. 226 pp.
Cloth, 50 cents. Philadelphia: Penn Publishing Co. 1893.

The merits of Mr. Bechtel's new handbook
of synonyms are its convenience of form, its
clearness of arrangement, the broadness of its
plan, and its feature of giving the prepositions-
which are properly used with different words.
This last-mentionea feature is an important one.
Those who incorrectly use such expressions as
"correspond with" for "correspond to," or
"different to" or "different than" for "dif-
ferent from," will find their errors pointed out
in this book. In forming his lists of synonyms
Mr. Bechtel . has made them as diversified as
possible by including words of somewhat dis-
tantly related meaning, thus increasing copious-
ness of suggestion in the enlarged group of
words. The book is a handy one, and, kept
within easy reach, it will supply in an instant
the word ior which a writer might long cudgel
his brain in vain. w. H. H.

Thb Siberian Exilk. By Gustav Nieritz. Translated by
Mary E. Ireland. laa pp. Cloth, 60 cents. Richmond,
Va. : Presbyterian Committee of Publication. 1894.

Mrs. Ireland has earned an excellent reputa-
tion as a translator, nine of her translations
having been published and two more being now
in press. " The Siberian Exile " is a charming
story of Christian home life in Russia ana
Siberia. It is interesting and well-written, and
the translator's work has been admirably done.

w. H. H.

BOOKS RECEIVED.

[ All books sent to the editor of Thb Writer will be ac-
knowledged under this heading. They will receive such further
notice as may be warranted by their importance to readers of'
the magazine.]

LovB Affair.s of a Worldly Man. By Maibelle Justice.
311pp. Paper, 50 cents. Chicago: F. T. Neely. 1894.

LovB Letters of a Worldly Woman. By Mrs. W. K.
Clifford. 285 pp. Paper, 50 cents. Chicago : F.
Neely. 1894.

The Anarchist. By Richard Henry Savage. 399 pp.
Paper, 50 cents. Chicago : F. T. Neely. 1894.

On a Margin. By Julius Chambers. 416 pp. Paper, 50
cents. Chicago : F. T. Neely. 1894.

A Dead Man's Step. By I^wrence L. Lynch ( E. Murdock
Van Deventer). 583 pp. Paper, 50 cents. Chicago: Rand^
McNally, & Co. 1894.

HELPFUL HINTS ANDSUGGESTIONS.

Pigeon-hole Extension. — Every writer who
has used pigeon-holes — and every writer should
use pigeon-holes — has found that Vv^dvL^X-V^*^

THE Writer.

pigeon-holes enough. I don't mean writers who
have pigeon-holes for ornament ; I mean writers
who use pigeon-holes — who take things out of
them as often as they put them in — who don't
have one particular receptacle marked " Im-
mediate," and always crammed to overflowing,
with the undisturbed dust of ages on. the mis-
cellany jammed inside. When writers who
really use pigeon-holes, then, find the supply of
available pigeon-holes giving out — as it always
does when you use 'em right — they may find it
a good scheme to subdivide them by the use
of envelopes. Six labelled envelopes, with
the flaps tucked in, inside of one labelled
pigeon-hole, are almost as good as seven pigeon-
holes — and they take up much less room. For
instance, a pigeon-hole labelled ** Material for
Articles Under Way " may have in it envelopes
labelled "Suicide as a Fine Art," "The Idiocy
of Editors," "Bicycling for Bishops," "The
Disadvantages of Putting Arsenic in Nursing
Bottles," "Sleeplessness the True Theory of
Insomnia," and " How I Wrote My Successful
Novel." Notes or newspaper clippings for use
in the final writing of any one of these interest-
ing articles may be filed in the proper envelope,
where they will be found happily classified,
when the day for writing it arrives, w. h. h.

Boston, Mass.

To Mend Torn Pages. — If you chance to

tear a page of the book you are reading, take

some white tissue paper and the while of an

tgg for mucilage, and you can mend them

neatly with very little trouble. The white of

the egg will not stain the paper, and the tissue

paper is so thin that print can easily be read

through it. A. B. l.

Mbdford, Mass.

^LITERARY ARTICLES IN PERIODICALS.

[The publisher of Thb Writbr will send to any address a
copy of any magaxine mentioned in the following reference list
on receipt of the amount given in parenthesis following the name
— the amount being in each case the price of the periodical,
with three cents Postage added. Readers who send to the pub-
lishers of the periodicals indexed for copies containing the ar-
ticles mentioned in the list will confer a favor if they will men-
tion Thb Writbr when they write.]

Thb First-Edition Mania. William Roberts. Re-
printed from Fortnightly Review in Sunday School Times
< 8 c. ) for April 7.

My First Visit to Nbw England. W. D. Howells.
Harper's Monthly ( 38 c. ) for May.

CoNSTANCB Fbnimorb Woolson. Charles Dudley Wuner.
" Editor's Study " in Harper's Monthly (38 c. ) for May.

Fi^MMARioN, THB AsTRONOMBR. R. H. Shcrard. Mc-
Clure^s Magazine ( 18 c. ) for May.

Bookbindings of thb Past. Brander Matthews. Cen-
tury ( 38 c. ) for May.

Thb English Languagb in Ambrica. W. J. Stillman.
Century ( 38 c. ) for May.

. Thb Valub OF Dialbct. Professor A. Wauchope. North
American Review ( 53 c. ) for May.

Thb Unknown Lifb of Christ. Edward Everett Hale.
North A merican Review ( 53 c. ) for May.

Thb Smallbst Books in thb World Gaston Tiwan-
dier. Translated from La Nature in Literary Digest ( 13 c. )
for April 28.

Illuminated Manuscripts. Literary Digest ( 13 c. ) for
April 28.

Thb Limit of Athlbtics for Brain Workbrs. Mau-
rice Thompson. Chautauquan ( 28 c. ) for May.

English Mothbrs in Fact and Fiction. Miss EL F.
Andrews. Chautauquan ( 28 c. ) for May.

Fitz-Jambs 0*Bribn and His Timb. Champion Bissell.
Lippincott" s (28 c.) for May.

Rudimbntarv Mistakbs of Writers. Lippincott* s {2% c)
for May.

Washington Ikving. With fac-simile of his manuscript.
Brander Matthews. St. Nicholas ( a8 c ) for May.

Advicb to Young Writers. Illustrated with portraits.
Lew Wallace, James Grant Wilson- George W. Cable, Julia
Ward Howe, H. H. Boyesen, Gertrude Atherton. Demorests
( 23 c ) for May.

Thb Ethical Valub of thb Novbl. D. H. Hill, Jr.
Southern Magazine (28 c.) for May.

S. R. Crockett. With portrait. Bookman (20 c.) for
April.

Realism of To day. Countess Cnwper. Reprinted from
Nineteenth Century in Eclectic ( 48 c. ) for May.

Francis Parkman and His Work. .\. E. Bradley.
Reprinted from Macmillan*s Magazine in Eclectic ( 48 c. )
for May.

The Art of Reading Books. J. E. C. Welldon. Re-
printed from National Review in Eclectic ( 48 c. ) for May.

Mrs. Margaret Dbland. With portrait. Literary
Monthly ( 1 3 c. ) f or April 26.

A Glance at Lami'MAN. Arthur J. Stringer. Canadian
Magazine ( 28 c. ) for April.

Miss Nancy Bailey (the English indexer). With por-
trait. Ladies* Home Journal (13 c.) for May.

Francis Parkman. — I. Justin Winsor. II. John Fiske.
Atlantic Monthly ( 38 c. ) for May.

Poetry in General and in Particular. Atlantic
Monthly ( 38 c. ) for May.

Methods of Engraving. — II. American Journal of
Photography (28 c.) for April.

Photogravure. Photo- A merican ( 13 c. ) for April.

Gborgb Ticknor Curtis. With portrait. Harper^s
Weekly (13c) for April 7.

George i>u Mauribr. With portnut. Henry James.
Harper s Weekly ( 13 c. ) for April 14*

Hbnry Cabot Lodgb. With portrait. Theodore Roose-
velt. Harper's Weekly ( 13 c. ) for April 14.

Thb Congressional Library. With illustrations. Nannie
Belle Maury. Harper's Weekly ( 13 c. ) for April ai.

The Writer.

David Dudlby Fibld. With portrait. Harper's Weekly
( 13 c.)for April 21.

NoTBS AND Lbttbrs. Harper^s Bazar (13 c. ) for
April a I.

Thb Editorial and Its Functions in Journausm.
C. L. Wood. Journalist ( 13 c. ) for April 21.

Edison and thb Kinbtiscopb. With illustrations. PhotO'
graphic Times ( 18 c. ) for April 6.

NEWS AND NOTES.

Mrs. Louise Chandler Moulton will sail for
Europe about May 26.

Miss Agnes Repplier will sail for Europe
about May i, to be absent several months.

Mrs. Frances Hodgson Burnett, who has been
in Washington this winter, has been visiting in
Boston. She will go to London this month, as
usual.

Mr. and Mrs. Rudyard Kipling and the baby
Kipling have sailed for England, where they
will spend the summer.

Rev. Dr. Edward Everett Hale celebrated
his seventy-second birthday, April 3, in Wash-
ington.

An Irish magazine for Irish readers, written
by Irishmen and Irishwomen, and called the
Old Country^ will be begun in Dublin this
month, under the editorship of Rev. Frederick
Langbridge.

The hundredth anniversary of the birth of
William Cullen Bryant will be observed Novem-
ber 3, at Great Barrington, Mass.

John Brisben Walker, publisher of the Cos-
mopolitan^ has decided to move his plant and
publication office from New York to Irvington-
on-the-Hudson, where he now resides.

The University Magazine ( New York ) has
gone into a receiver *s hands. It was started
about six years ago.

The comic weekly Hallo (New York) has
suspended publication. Carl Hauser and Con-
stantine de Grimm, the artist, were the founders
of the paper, and De Grimm was the principal
pictorial contributor.

The firm of Charles L. Webster & Co., New
York, consisting of Samuel L. Clemens ( " Mark
Twain ") and Fred J. Hall, made an assignment
April 18.

Miss Charlotte Yonge, for forty-three years
the editor of the Monthly Packet^ has beea
retired.

The Minerva Publishing Company, of 25
Vandewater street. New York city, has con-
fessed judgment for $14,983 in favor of Frank
T. Morrill on a demand note dated March 24,
for a loan. The judgment is signed by T. T.
Timayenis as president. The sheriff has re-
ceived an execution for $136 against the com-
pany in favor of Eugene A. Hoffman, and has
levied on the safe and a quantity of books.
Mr. Morrill says that he owns the plant.

We Engraver and Printer Company, of Bos-
ton, has been reorganized, and will continue
the publication of the Engraver and Printer,
Henry Lewis Johnson retains the position of
editor, while Albert G. Glover will be the busi-
ness manager.

The Arena (Bqston) closes its ninth volume
with the May number. The Arena has made
steady progress since its foundation, and now
firmly holds its place as one of the three leading
American reviews.

The advertisement writers of Washington
have organized the Ad. Writers' Association,
its members being G. A. Lewis, E. F. Fane, G.
Nordlinger, Carl Fast, G. W. Miller, F. McC.
Smith, J. A. Shaffer, C. C. Archibald, J. Price,
A. Kaufman, W. G. Kent, William A. Hunger-
ford, I. Gans, and F. H. Pierce. The officers
of the association are : President, George A.
Lewis ; vice-president, William A. Hungerford ;
secretary, F. H. Pierce ; treasurer, Isaac Gans.

William Henry Bishop is now settled in New
Haven as an instructor in French and Spanish
at Yale. During five years Mr. and Mrs.
Bishop, with their two children, " kept house in
romantic places," — in France and Italy prin-
cipally, — and their experiences are given in the
" House Hunter in Europe," recently published
in attractive form by Harper & Brothers, which
tells how little it costs to keep house in Europe,
and what pleasure there is in it.

Public opinion ( Washington ) began its ninth
year with its number of April 5. Public
opinion is an invaluable help to all who want
to keep informed regarding the leading topics
of the day.

THE WRITER.

Notwithstanding all rumors to the contrary,
Dr. Oliver Wendell Holmes has definitely de-
cided that he will not give his memoirs to the
public during his lifetime. In a recent conver-
sation Dr. Holmes remarked : " I work at the
memoirs an hour or two each day, and am
making satisfactory progress. That is, I have
about one-half completed of all I shall write."

Flammarion, the French astronomer and
author, as seen in his Paris home and amidst
his daily tasks, is the subject of an article by
R. H. Sherard \n McClure's Magazine {^t^t
York ) for May. The article is fully illustrated.

itec
.ssc

The next annual meeting of the Western Asso-
ciation of Writers is to be held at Spring Foun-
tain Park, Warsaw, Ind., during the last week
in June, beginning Monday evening and closing
Friday evening. Those who wish more accu-
rate information can obtain it by addressing the
secretary. Miss Ida May Davis, Terre Haute,
Ind.

Miss Beatrice Harraden, the author of " Ships
That Pass in the Night," will shortly arrive in
New York on her way to California. She in-
tends, by advice of her doctor, to spend several
months there on a fruit farm. Miss Harraden
some time ago lost the use of her right hand
through entire failure of the ulnar nerve by
overstrain in writing and in 'cello playing. She
is too nervous for dictation, and hated a type-
writer, and has consequently had to do a large
part of her writing with her left hand. Her
little book, it is said, was written with the
greatest difficulty. She means to write another
novel while in California. Miss Harraden is a
member of a musical and artistic family, the
daughter of a man of scientific attainments,
who is her sternest literary critic. She has
taken a B. A. degree in classics and mathe-
matics at the London University, and heartily
advocates the higher education of women. She
is also an enthusiastic supporter of woman's
suffrage. Her new book, a collection of short
stories, is coming from the Putnam press.

The Photographic Times ( New York ) says

that more than seventy-five per cent, of the

illustrated books now published are indebted

to photography, directly or indirectly, for their

jJJustration.

Porter & Coates, of Philadelphia, in view of
the great interest now taken in the history of
American families, are issuing in the Literary
Era a list of the American genealogies which
have been printed in book form. The list will
be brought up to date, and will be much more
complete than any such work heretofore at-
tempted.

A new portrait of Benjamin Franklin has been
discovered recently in Paris, a terra-cotta me-
dallion modelled from life, which shows the
genial side of Franklin's nature better than any
existing portrait. Paul Leicester Ford has
written a brief article to accompany a photo-
graph of it in Scribner's Magazine for May.

The Forum's circulation has jumped from
16,000 to 46,000 per month, as a result of the
reduction of the price from fifty cents to twenty-
five cents a number. The American News Com-
pany's order for the May issue is 25,000 copies.
Formerly the news company took 6,000 copies
each month.

Dr. Noah Brooks, until recently editor of the
Newark ( N. J. ) Advertiser, has returned to his
birthplace at Castine, Me., where he intends to
spend the rest of his days.

J. M. Stoddart, who has had a long connec-
tion with Lippincotf s Magazine as editor and
manager, has accepted a position with an inter-
national publishing company, and has been
obliged to sever his connection with Lippin-
cotfs. The name of his successor has not yet
been announced.

The Washington Capital says that Corporal
Tanner is to become the editor of Home and
Country, the soldiers' magazine, published in
New York.

Aubrey Beardsley, the artist whose fantastic
drawings are just now a " fad " of English
bookmakers, is not much more than twenty
years old.

The very latest literary novelty in France ia
a story written by collaboration, and printed in
two kinds of type, so that the reader may see
at a glance which author he is perusing.

John Oliver Hobbs in private life is Mrs.
Craigie. She is twenty-six years old, and al-
though she has spent her life in England and
France, she is by birth an American.

The Writer.

Speaking of General Grant's *' Memoirs," T.

C. Crawford, mMcCiure's Ma^azineior May,—

-which, by the way, is a Grant number, — says:

-**No other book written in this country has

•ever returned such a large reward. At the

time of this writing the Grant family has re-

-ceived from the royalties paid by the publishers

of the work more than $440,000, and the sale

cstill goes on. The cheaper edition, which the

publishers are now about to bring out, may

result in another phenomenal sale, so that it is

■within the range of possibility that the

^* Memoirs " may yield in the neighborhood of

three-quarters of a million of dollars to General

•Grant's heirs."

" Fra Paolo Sarpi, the Greatest of the Vene-
tians," by Alexander Robertson, is announced
Ijy Thomas Whittaker. The author has been a
resident of Venice for many years, and has
studied closely the subject of his monograph.

Francis Thompson, who is hailed in London
as a great poet, was selling matches in the
streets not long ago. This was only a tem-
porary experience with poverty, however, for he
is a college-bred man, well up in thj classics
and in medicine. His first book of verse, pub-
lished last December, has already gone through
three editions. At present he is living a retired
Jife at a Capuchin monastery in Wales.

Mr. John Holmes, the brother of Dr. Oliver
Wendell Holmes, and equally dear with his
famous relative to the smaller circle which sur-
rounds him in Cambridge, is suffering from im-
paired sight; yet, with characteristic courage,
he is taking up the study of the piano at his
advanced age.

Henry Mills Alden, who is a descendant of
John Alden of Mayflower fame, has been editor
of Harper's Magazine for twenty-seven years.

" Do show us the manuscript of * Pem-
broke ! ' Do let us see ' Pembroke ! ' " ex-
claimed two young ladies who were being
conducted through Harper & Brothers* com-
posing-room. They were not to be comforted
-when they learned that the story was wholly
typewritten, and, while reverently holding some
of the typewritten sheets, declared it was as if
they had hoped to take Miss Wilkins' hand,
but had only touched her glove.

Caspar W. Whitney has just returned from
his pilgrimage to Great Britain, where he spent
ten weeks visiting the various sport centres.
His impressions, profusely illustrated, will be
given in the series of articles now running in
Harper's Weekly^ touching upon the general
sporting spirit of England.

Still another Scotch writer has risen into
prominence of late years, and one, moreover,
who, following in the wake of Stevenson and
Barrie, bids fair to rival even them in popu-
larity. For, although ** The Raiders " is only
the second work of the Rev. S. E. Crockett, of
Penicuick, there has been the greatest demand
for it even in advance of its publication. On
the other side the entire edition was sold out
before it was issued, and here in America a
second edition has been called for only a week
after the publication of the first.

The congress of authors and journalists in
Germany has petitioned the reichstag for the
'cancellation of the copyright treaty concluded
in 1892 with the United States. The petition-
ers advise that no other treaty be made unless
it be fully reciprocal.

The last of the important series of papers of
literary criticism by James Russell Lowell ap-
pears in the Century for May, under Jthe title
of " Fragments," consisting of three short
articles ; one on " Life in Literature and Lan-
guage " ; another on the epic of " Kalevala," of a
portion of which there is an unpublished trans-
lation in verse by Mr. Lowell ; and third, a
beautiful passage on the differences between
style and manner.

The profits of literature, as examplified in
the case of Mrs. Humphry Ward, are thus dis-
cussed in the Critic : ** For the American and
English markets alone she was paid for * David
Grieve' $80,000. She got from the British
colonies — Australia, India, etc. — no mean
sum, I fancy, for they are big countries, and
their people are great readers of popular litera-
ture. Say that she gets $80,000 more for
* Marcella,* and that she got $40,000 for ' Robert
Elsmere.* That is $200,000 for three books
written during a period of about six years.
Not bad pay, when one considers that it is all
profit."

THE WRITER.

The formation is announced in England of a
Bronte Society, the object of which is to ac-
quire literary, artistic, and family memorials of
the Brontes ; photographs of persons ahd places
identified with them and their works in York-
shire, Ireland, Cornwall, Essex, Brussels, etc. ;
copies of all books and fugitive articles, illus-
trating the novels and the districts in which the
Brontes resided — all these acquisitions to be
placed at Haworth, or some other appropriate
locality, for the free inspection of the members
of the society, and to be offered for public ex-
hibition. Mme. Emma C. Cortazzo, 330 Dart-
mouth street, Boston, will be glad to furnish
information on this subject, unofficially, to those
interested.

The Sketch ( London ) prints an interview
with " Iota," a new writer, who has made a suc-
cess with her novel, " A Yellow Aster." A por-
trait accompanies the article. " Iota*s " real
name is Mrs. Mannington Caffyn. She is de-
scribed as "a tall, fair woman, with Irish eyes
smiling out of a clever, earnest face, with just a
suspicion of a dainty brogue."

The real name of Henry Seton Merriman,
whose novel, " With Edged Tools," is now run-
ning anonymously through the Cornhill Maga-
zine^ is H. S. Scott. Mr. Scott is the author
of '* The Slave of the Lamp."

In Harper 5 Magazine for May W. D. How-
ells gives his first impressions of New England.
As a young man he made a journey from his
home in Columbus, O., to Boston, where he met
Longfellow, Lowell, Emerson, Holmes, Haw-
thorne, and most other literary lights of the
New England of thirty years ago. The account
of this journey will be given in four papers, the
first, which appears in the May Harper*s^ deal-
ing with the journey as far as Portland, and de-
scribing a chance meeting with Bayard Taylor.

The frontispiece of Wilson's Photographic
Magazine ( New York ) for April is an exquisite
example of the best modern photographic por-
trait work.

The Magazine of Art {l^tyf York) for May
has, besides a full-page etching and other at-
tractive features, a sketch of Emile Wauters,
portrait painter, with some interesting exam-
p/es 0/ his work.

The editor of the English Public Opinioft
since 1884 has been Percy White, the author
of " Mr. Bailey-Martin." The success of his
first novel has induced Mr. White to write an-
other, which will also be in autobiographical
form.

Stanley J. Weyman, whose historical novels
have given him a substantial fame in England,
is thirty-nine years old, an Oxford graduate,,
and has had experience as a newspaper man
and a lawyer.

Mrs. Terry, of Rome, Italy, the mother of F.
Marion Crawford, is said to be the oldest
American resident of the Eternal City. She
was living there with her first husband, Thomas
Crawford, the sculptor, when Hawthorne wrote
" The Marble Faun," in which Mr. Crawford,
his identity lightly veiled, figures conspicuously.

The editor of the Popular Science Monthly
takes certain imaginative writers to task for
their unscientific and absurd statements regard-
ing '* the young moon " and " the crescent
moon," and advises them to leave it alone, be-
cause they so often contrive to get it in the
wrong place. In a recent story which ha»
come under his notice he finds two friends
described as sitting out one summer evening,
looking over the Thames, and the writer goes
on to say : " By this time the young moon had
arisen, and its cold light shimmered over the
misty river." Such writers are reminded that
the young moon goes to bed early, and can
never be seen in the process of rising.

Mrs. Jane G. Austin died in Boston, March
30.

Mrs. J. A. Allen, of Kingston, Ont., mother
of Grant Allen, novelist and essayist, is dead.

Ben King, the Michigan poet and humorist,
was found dead in bed April 7, at a hotel at
Bowling Green, Ky., where he had appeared in
public the night before. His home was in St.
Joseph, Mich., where he had a wife and two
children.

David Dudley Field died in New York city
quite suddenly, from pneumonia, April 13. He
had just returned from Europe, and was appar-
ently in excellent health.

Major Joseph Kirkland died in Chicago, of
heart disease, April 29.

The

Writer:

A MONTHLY MAGAZINE TO INTEREST AND HELP ALL LITERARY WORKERS.

Vol. VII.

BOSTON, JUNE, 1894.

No. 6.

Entered at the Boston Post-office as second-class mail matter.

CONTENTS : page

Thb Unknown Author. Edward Kirkland Cowing. . 8i
RuLBS FOR Copying Manuscripts on thb Typkwritbr.

IVilliam H. Hats 8a

An Ohio Port— Aucb Williams Brothbrton. Mary

E. Cardwill. 84

Editorial 88

Book Advertising as a Fine Art 88

Thb Editorial "I." A. W. Dennis 88

Qubribs 89

Thb Usb and Misuse of Words 90

" ObUged to Have Asked " and " Nom de Plume." . 90

Book Rbvibws 90

Hblpful Hints and Suggestions 9a

To Read Curled Manuscripts, 9a — Typewriter Back-
ing Sheet 93

Litbrarv Articles in Periodicals 93

News and Notes 94

THE UNKNOWN AUTHOR.

At what a disadvantage is the beginner in
literature. Like a recently landed foreigner, he
gazes about him, undecided to which point of
the compass he should turn. He looks for
some friendly face, but is regarded with cold-
ness. Among so many people, very little sym-
pathy is offered him. He realizes that they all
have their friends, and begins to feel dis-
couraged. Suddenly, at an unexpected
moment, some one smiles, holds out a helping
hand, and speaks kind words ; then hope again
springs into life. Onward he plods, with an
occasional ray of brightness entering his lonely
life, until some morning he awakes to find that
he is no longer an unknown author. Then are
many smiling faces turned toward him, and the
whole world seems full of friends.

So much prejudice is felt against the unknown
author, that many readers will not pause to ex-
amine even the title of a book by an unfamiliar

writer, and so editors are often inaccessible to
strangers with manuscripts for examination.

A certain book had been recommended to a
friend of mine. She began it, but it failed to
hold her interest. She cast it aside with the
remark : " I won't read it. It*s by an unknown
author anyhow."

This may strike the reader as quite incon-
sistent, until he is assured that much literature
written by experienced authors was at that
moment resting upon her shelves inviting her
perusal and enjoyment.

Life is so brief and the field of literature so
infinite, that one dare not hope to do more than
read the most talked-of books of the day, leav-
ing the works that attract small attention for
those spare moments, which are so frequently
referred to, but which, alas ! never arrive.

A tabulated list of books published in
America during 1893 reveals an astonishing
total of 4,281 new books and 853 new editions,
a gain over 1892 of 207 new books and sixty-
five new editions.

The unknown author, then, has three principal
difficulties to combat: the indifference of
editors, the prejudice of the public, and the
fierce competition with writers who have
acquired names.

It requires a stout heart, a ready brain, and a
persevering pen to overcome these three
powerful adversaries, who, without intending it,
are often so cruel.

To be sure, there are too many books written,
and, excepting as to the "per cent.," I agree
with an utterance I recently overheard, which
was as follows : '* Burn ninety per cent, of the
books now being published, and you will gain
pleasure and instruction from the remainder,
without losing anything by the operation."

The Writer.

Until this ninety per cent., or whatever figure
represents the true ratio of useless books, is, by
some means, reduced or suppressed, there will

be a continuance of the present stagnation ia
the market for works by unknown authors.
Nbw York, n. y. Edward Kirkland Cowing.

RULES FOR COPYING MANUSCRIPTS ON THE TYPEWRITER.

Number the pages of the manuscript in the
centre of the top of each page, making the
paging consecutive from the first page of the
manuscript to the last. This is the rule even
in the case of manuscripts divided into chapters
or parts. It is a mistake to number each chap-
ter or part separately.

Put the name and address of the author in
the left-hand upper corner of the first page,
beginning flush, — /'. ^., at space i on the scale, so
that the first letter will strike one-half inch from
the left-hand edge of the paper. In the upper
right-hand corner, on the same line, put :
"About 2,500 words," — or whatever the num-
ber of words in the manuscript may be, — start-
ing it so that the period will strike one-half
inch from the right-hand edge of the paper.

Write the title in capitals in the centre of the
top of the first page of the manuscript, leaving a
blank space of about one inch above it. Do
not write the title alone by itself on a separate
sheet. It improves the appearance of a manu-
script to take a ruler, after typewriting it,
and draw a neat line in black ink underneath
each word of the title. Don't use red ink for
underscoring.

Underneath the title write in the centre of
the next line: "By William D. Howells," or
whatever the name of the author may be. In
case a pseudonym is used, the writer's real
name and the pseudonym will thus appear on
the same page. Write the author's name, also,
at the end of the manuscript, dropping it a line
below the last paragraph, and counting the
letters so that you can make the period after
I'le name come one inch from the right-hand
ctlge of the paper. Underscore the signature
at the end of the manuscript, either with the

machine, or with a ruler and pen. The reason
for writing the author's name twice is that some
editors credit an article at the beginning, and
others at the end. If the name is written in
both places, the editor has only to cross out
the name he doesn't want, and credit is sure
not to be- omitted by any oversight.

For long manuscripts always use good linen
paper, 8x10^ inches in size. For short manu-
scripts, paper 5x8 inches in size may be used,
and the typewriting may run either way of the
sheet that the author may prefer.

Always use the double space in making manu-
scripts for the press.

Put the paper in the typewriter so that there
will be a margin of a half -inch on the left-hand
side of the sheet, and set the warning bell so
that you will remember to make the margin on
the right-hand side as nearly as possible the
same.

Try to avoid dividing words at the end of the
line, and never divide any word excepting on a
syllable.

Indent each paragraph five spaces at the
beginning.

Always leave three spaces between sentences.
When a quotation is begun within a sentence
( as, for instance : "Edwin said: 'Come, Ethel-
inda!'") leave two spaces after the colon,
before the quotation begins. Always leave two
spaces after a semi-colon.

Be extremely careful in the use of quotation
marks. Remember that within double quota-
tions single quotations should be used, if any
quotation mark is required, and that within
single quotations, in the same case, double
quotations should be used. For instance, the
quotation marks are rightly used in this ex-

The writer.

«3

ample : ^ John said : ' He was angry because I
called him "cry-baby." ' "

When two sets of quotation marks are used
together, on the Hammond typewriter leave a
space between them. For instance, after "cry-
baby" in the example just quoted, the type-
writer copyist should write : period, double-quote,
space, single-quote, space, double-quote.

If, in place of the period in the sentence
quoted, there had been a semi-colon, an interro-
gation point, or an exclamation point after " cry-
baby," the double-quote should have been
struck before the semi-colon, interrogation, or
exclamation instead of after it. In other words,
when only the last words of a sentence are
xjuoted, the final quotation marks should pr^c^de
a semi-colon, a colon, an interrogation-point, or
an exclamation-point, — the /arge marks, that
is,— but should /oZ/ow a comma or a period,
both of which marks are so small that they
look all right, even though they are really out of
place.

When the w/tole sentence is quoted, all quota-
tion marks should invariably follow other punc-
tuation marks.

.Make a new paragraph — indented five spaces
— whenever in conversation the speaker
changes, or when in narrative the sense re-
<}uires it.

If one or more paragraphs are made in what
-one speaker says without interruption, begin
each paragraph with quotation marks, but do
not put quotations marks at the end of para-
graphs till the end of the last paragraph is
reached.

When, in contractions, an apostrophe is made
to take the place of an elided letter, it should be
written exactly as if it were the letter of which
it takes the place.

A caret at the end of a paragraph and another
caret at the beginning of the next paragraph
means : ** Run in ; no ^'." A line drawn from
the end of one paragraph to the beginning of
the next paragraph means the same thing.

In dialect l)e sure that the same word or
phrase is always s|>elled in exactly the same
way.

If {Kissible, avoid having the top line on any
page shorter than a full line. This is a book-
printer's rule, which applies also to typewriting.

Also avoid, if possible, beginning a paragraph
on the bottom line of any page.

If you strike a wrong key by mistake, always
erase the printed letter and print the right letter
in its place. Don't "Xout" mistakes. Use
the eraser, and make your manuscript look
clean.

In a sentence like : "John," she said, " I am
yours forever," leave two spaces before and
after the words, " she said," besides putting in
the usual punctuation marks.

Leave a space on each side of every dash.
Strike two hyphens to make a dash.

If, in a narrative, you are indenting each ordi-
nary paragraph five spaces, a paragraph begin-
ning with a quotation mark should be indented
only four spaces. It makes the manuscript
look more regular to have the quotation marks
outside the paragraph at the beginning, so
that to the reader's eye the first letters in the
different paragraphs will line evenly down the
page.

Correct manifest errors in copy, unless you
have been instructed to follow copy exactly.
Use your intelligence, and try to make the
manuscript as nearly perfect as you can. Do
not, however, make radical changes without
consultation with the author.

It is generally best to use a colon, instead of
a comma, to introduce a quoted sentence.

Before " but " and ** and " at the beginning of
a sentence, the strict rule is to use a semi-colon,
and to begin the word ** but " or " and " with a
small letter. Good writers, however, avoid
beginning a sentence with these words.

Study the rules ot punctuation, and follow
them as scrupulously as you can.

A /ways read over your copy carefully after it
is completed, in comparison with the original.

Put either a dash or "The End" in the
centre of the line after the signature of every
manuscript.

In typewriting poetry follow the main rule re-
garding indentation, which is that all lines that
rhyme with each.other must be indented equally.
In observing this rule do not count quotation
marks as letters.

Always write poetry in the centre of the
sheet, centring on the longest line.

Do not enclose the finished manuscript vcn^

The Writer.

covers, or attach the sheets together in any way.
If the manuscript is short, put a blank sheet of
paper like that on which it is written before the
first page, to keep it clean. If the manuscript
is long, cut two pieces of pasteboard to just the
size of the paper, and put one on top and the
other on the bottom of the manuscript, then
fastening the whole together with a stout rubber
band.

Before rolling a manuscript always commit
suicide. There is no objection to folding a
manuscript, but a rolled manuscript is good
only for waste paper, and not good for much for
that.

Estimate the number of words in a manu-
script by counting the number of words in an
average full line, and multiplying that number

by the number of lines on a full page, and agaii>
by the number of pages. Unless the matter is-
very open, make no deduction for blank spaces
at the end of paragraphs. ** The number of
words in a manuscript ^' means to editors the
number of words that would go in the space
the manuscript will occupy when printed, in
case they were set solid, — without any para-
graphs, that is, — and so, in estimating, the blank
spaces at the end of paragraphs in printed mat-
ter are counted as if they were filled out with
average words. For this reason, an exact
count, 'one by one, of the words in any manu-
script in which paragraphs are used will fait,
short of the number of words as estimated in^
the ordinary way by any editor.

Boston, Mass. William H, Hills.

AN OHIO POET — ALICE WILLIAMS BROTHERTON.

*' The true poet tO'day is God's prophet.

If a sinner prove false to his trust,
Make his mission a by-word and scoff it ;

It is meet he should sink into dust.
Who would wear the life crown of a poet

Must breathe out a soul in his art —
Stand above the rude throng, not below it ;

And his song must be pure, like his heart."

In these strong, true lines Alice Williams
Brotherton reflects the predominant inspiration
of her own muse, and voices the intensity with
which all genuine poets feel that they have a
message to deliver. She belongs, however, to
a distinct class of poets — those who make the
burden of their songs man's relation to God and
to humanity. Her poems are the work of an
artist, yet they are of direct religious or ethical
significance. They are born in the throes of a
responsibility to uplift men, by spurring them
to effort in the nobler things pf life. This is
dwelt upon because Mrs. Brotherton is one of
the not too common poets who are able to make
true poetry out of subjects akin to those chosen
by David, and Solomon, and the Hebrew
prophets. It is the kind of poetry which can be

poetry only in an exalted spiritual atmosphere,,
in which the mean, the commonplace, the un-
poetic cannot exist. Mrs. Brotherton is not,
however, a writer of devotional poems, but,
rather, of those which reflect the ethical in
every subject, and make of all ethics a religion.
In these days, when so much is attributed to
heredity, there is a pleasing propriety in tracing
a poet's peculiar gifts to the circumstances of
ancestry and environment. Mrs. Brotherton's
poetic work seems to be the direct and logical
result of hereditary causes. Of Quaker lineage
in both her paternal and maternal lines, she was
born among the Quakers, at the home of her
grandfather. Dr. Nathan Johnson, at Cambridge
City, Indiana. The section of Indiana to which
Cambridge City belongs has been noticeably rich
in men and women of literary and scholastic
attainment. It is to-day the home of a circle of
poets, who, if not of world-wide fame, have
gained recognition beyond the borders of their
state, and have helped greatly to create the lit-
erary atmosphere for which Indiana is becom-
ing known. Many of these writers have spent.

The Writer.

the morning of their days in the shadow of
a "Friend's Meeting-house," and, perhaps,
reached their truest inspiration through the
subtle influence involved in the doctrine of re-
ligious expression only as a movement of the
spirit.

Alfred Baldwin Williams, the father of Mrs.
Brotherton, was the son of a Hicksite preacher,
:and the grandson of a Quaker preacher of
Welsh extraction. On her mother's side, Mrs.
Brotherton is of mixed nationalities, in which
the Celtic predominates. It is, perhaps, .to
these Celtic strains that she owes her purely
poetic endowments. Yet, more than all, and
above all, are the heritage of Quaker ideas, and
her American Quaker teaching, which glow in
the spiritual coloring, and her love for humanity,
that together give its high value to her poetic
work.

Mrs. Brotherton's earliest years were spent
successively in Cincinnati, St. Louis, and on a
farm near Cambridge City, Indiana. A little
later Mr. Williams made Cincinnati the perma-
nent home of his family. There Alice was edu-
cated in the public schools. She was graduated
from the Woodward High School in the spring
of 1870, and at the same time began her literary
<:areer with her first published poems, "Pic-
tures in Ice," written for Commencement day,
and " Moods," read shortly afterward at an
alumni meeting.

Among the other graduates that Commence-
ment day was one to whom the attractions of
his brilliant classmate, Alice Williams, had
proved irresistible. He was able to win her
iieart, and after he had completed a Harvard
College course, their marriage took place, and
she became Mrs. William Ernest Brotherton.

United to a man whose sympathy and advice
have, perhaps, more than all else, encouraged
her in her literary work, Mrs. Brotherton has
found in her marriage a happy destiny. Her
life's sunshine has been clouded of recent years
by her delicate health, and by one great sorrow,
the loss of the eldest of her three beautiful
<:hildren.

Domestic in her tastes, and devoted to her
family, Mrs. Brotherton passes most of her
time in the seclusion of her pleasant home at
Avondale, one of Cincinnati's charming sub-

urbs. Her home is shared by her mother and
her sister, the latter a well-known engraver.

Mrs. Brotherton, in spite of her devotion to
her home and her literary work, has found time
for an active part in various kinds of public
work. She. was president for two years of the
Cincinnati Woman's Press Club, which, chiefly
through her instrumentality, has become one of
the largest and most influential organizations in
the country. She has long been interested in
the "woman question," her appreciation of the
vital importance of which is voiced in her poem,
" The Present Hour," written for and read be-
fore the Ohio State Council of Women in 1888.
In this she says : —

*' Our work's to mould a nobler womanhood
Out of the faulty clay that lies at hand ;
To preach the ' gospel of the golden rule *
In home and school, society and state ;
Wage righteous war with ignorance and wrong."

Lastly, in her public work it is not strange that
as a champion of all woman's efforts for ad-
vancement she should be an enthusiastic mem-
ber of what, in the abstract, seems destined to
mark an epoch of the century, a woman's liter-
ary club. She was one of the founders, and
has been for several years the president, of Les
Voyageurs^ a literary and study club of Avon-
dale.

Mrs. Brotherton came of a family of readers,
and her environments have always been most
favorable for the development of her poetic
talents. From her infancy she has browsed
among good books, and has found in them
much of the intellectual food and stimulus
which her nature as a poet of the inward, rather
than the outward, perceptions demanded.

She has been fortunate in having from the
beginning of her poetic work for her guidance
in purely artistic lines, what is inestimable in
value to a young poet, an exacting critic at her
elbow. This critic is her mother, to whom she
gladly acknowledges the greatest indebtedness
for much of the success of her work.

As I have said, Mrs. Brotherton did not
appear in print in her extreme youth. This
prudent waiting for ripeness led no doubt to
the almost immediate recognition she received,
when she fairly began her literary career in
1 87 1. From that time her work has found
ready acceptance from the /iwfe^^noCent^ ^^nr.

THE WRITER.

Christian Standard^ Unity ^ the Atlantic^ the
Century^ Scribner^s^ St. Nicholas^ and many
other periodicals of a like high character.

Her first appearance as an author was in a
little pamphlet containing a poem called " Be-
yond the Veil," published in 1886, by Charles
H. Kerr & Co., of Chicago. Her first volume
of poems, " The Sailing of King Olaf, and Other
Poems," was published by the same firm, in 1887.

Mrs. Brotherton, like most poets, carries her
individuality into her times and ways of work.
She does not saturate her brain and poetic
thoughts with midnight oil, but finds her truest
inspiration in daylight at its best, from eight to
twelve in the morning. Much of her best work
has been done with her babies about her, sit-
ting in her lap or clinging to her gown. She
writes in the way common to women, on her lap,
supporting her paper on a walnut board made
especially for her, and fitted with convenient
attachments. She completes her work, whether
poem or prose article, if possible at one sitting.
She seldom rewrites or revises to any material
extent. Her poems are thus, in strictest truth,
the spontaneous outpourings of a heart imbued
with deeply religious feeling, having in a spirit-
ual way a lesson to teach.

In poems like these there is often of neces-
sity a certain sternness in the motive, yet no
harsh note or bitterness mars the poetic beauty
of Mrs. Brotherton's work. The most directly
and positively didactic of her poems breathe
the subtle artistic quality which imbues the
reader with the emotions of the poet. Surely
few persons have read without a certain self-
conviction the tender, solemn, searching lines
called " Magdalen." The poem is a sermon on
a text taken from the burial service, "We com-
mit to the ground the body of this our deceased
sister."

" This our sister ! Surely you are mocking.
Why, this self-same form I've seen before,
Through the streets of yonder city walking.
Pitilessly spurned from door to door.

• • • • • • •

" Had she been our sister, — tempted, sinning, —
We had hastened to uplift and save ;
Had deemed time and pains well spent in winning
Back our sister from a living grave."

The delicate, though impressive, handling of
the painful subject, and its power of awakening

love and pity, the divine sympathy of a Chri&
tian, make this little poem sublime.

Much of the effect of Mrs. Brotherton's work,
is due to her use of a clear and simple diction..
It is a diction peculiarly adapted to the narra
tive form of poetry, and to the legendary sub-
jects which she has found so attractive. I n her
treatment of these subjects, she has a pictu-
resque, firm touch, suggesting much more thaa
is told, yet apparently without making any-
strong appeal to the reader's imagination.

She chooses legends as picturesque material^
but it is always the spirit of the story which has-
for her a specially poetic attraction, and this
she interprets through fitting verse-forms and
language. "The Sailing of King Olaf/' the
first poem in her volume, has the swift, terse
movement of a heroic contest, and is appropri-
ate at the same time to the exultant triumph o£
religious faith, which is the lesson taught. The
poem is a long one, and an extract would not
do it justice; a few lines, however, will show
the general treatment of the subject. Harald;
Haardrade and his brother Olaf agreed that

Who first shall win to our native land.

He shall be king of old Norroway."

But Harald stipulates that they shall exchange
vessels, as Olaf's is the swifter. His brother
consents, believing that, by the blessing of God,,
he will win the race. He delays to offer prayer
in the church, while Harald, the wind in his.
favor, sails away. Olaf, in his heavier, clumsier
vessel, follows, and reaches the Norse land three
days ahead of his brother : —

" Such was the sailing of Olaf the king.

Monarch and saint of Norroway *,
In view of whose wondrous prospering

The Norse have a saying unto this day :
' As Harald Haardrade found to his cost.

Time spent in praying is never lost J* *'

Another poem not included in the volume,.
" The Ballad of Little Christin," is a good illus-
tration of excellent adaption of the ballad form
to an old tradition. As an almost purely aes-^
thetic poem, it would place its author among
the pre-Raphaelites. Little Christin weeps on
her wedding day because she fears she will
share the fate of her sisters, whom a "grim*
sprite " in Ringfallow's flood "stole away,"

" Each on her wedding day.^'

Her lover has her palfrey shod " with golden>

The Writer.

shoon " to frighten the elves away, and a train
of twelve men ride by her side. But "a snow-
white stag with a golden horn " lures the train
away, and

" Ere they reached the central arch
That spans Ringfallow's wave,
The palfrey tripped, the maiden fell
Or ever a hand could save !

" Down, down into the Kelpies' hall
She sank five fathoms clear.
Loud laughed the sprite, ' O little Christin,
Indeed you are welcome here ! * "

But with "gold harp in his hand," her lover,

" Sir Peter knelt upon the strand.
And touched one golden string ;
The water-sprite beneath the flood

Turned pale with listening.

• ••••••

" Sir Peter prayed a hearty prayer.
And struck the chords with might ;
And Christin's arm above the flood
Rose up all round and white ! "

And so she was rescued by " music's magic
power," and by prayer.

Mrs. Brotherton's more strictly narrative
poems are as distinct and vivid in impression
as a bit of highly-colored tapestry, covered with
well-executed scenes from life. ** Dorothy Ver-
non's Flight " reminds one of *' St. Agnes' Eve,"
not wholly from a slight similarity of subject,
but as much from what may perhaps be called
a classical effect of permanence which attaches
itself to the maiden carried off by " the sturdy
knight" in ** the white moonlight," while

" The mad merry measure of the music
Sounded on, and the revel gaily sped.
Or ever grim George and his lady
Had learned that their prisoner had fled."

In her treatment of nature, Mrs. Brotherton
is delicately suggestive of moods and memories,
rather than of a love of nature for its own sake.
Her " Rose Songs," included in the published
volume, are love songs full of the exultant, pas-
sionate feeling expressed by the " Dying Rose "
deserted by the Nightingale whose songs she
has inspired : —

" What were the gifts of a thousand lovers
Tu that one perfect song of thine.

" I dare not weep, though I fade forever;
More from a century none could win.
This is my joy, that never, oh never.
Save for me, love, thy song had been ! "

The same gift in using language vividly, pro- nkw Albany, Ind.

ducing clear-cut impressions with a few strokes
of the pencil, is exhibited in Mrs. Brotherton's
vers de sociiti and in her dialect poems. Her
seeming versatility, however, is a versatility of
subject and verse form, rather than of sentiment
or general treatment. Earnestness of feeling
underlies the lightest of her poems. And the
same element gives exceptional force and nobil-
ity to her poems of the inner life ; and it is when
she is " on the heights " that she is at her best.
Her treatment of a most suggestive subject,
"The Wife of Pygmalion," is an example of
poetic sublimity reached through intensity of
expression. The beautiful statue, given life
of the body only, longs at any cost for a soul : —

" Oh, pray for me, that I may know

All shades of human suffering.
The very height and depth of woe, —

If so the grief and pain might bring
Into this periect form of mine
At last — the Soul divine."

If poetry were a matter of the imagination
only, Mrs. Brotherton might be ranked lower
than many a poet or verse writer of less merit.
If poetry were music only, — honeyed notes of
limpid sweetness, — she would find many an
unknown singer more than her peer. If poetry
were nature's mirror only, she would fall be-
hind in a race with many a contributor to the
poet's corner of a country newspaper. If poetry
were artistic verse-making only, mere verse-
makers in great numbers would stand by her
side. It is because poetry, whatever else it
may be, is "the living thoughts of living men,"
made intense and expressive through poetic
forms of speech, that she is lifted into the ranks
of true poets, though she ever harbors what in
many hands becomes death to spontaneous
song — the consciously didactic.

As a writer of prose, Mrs. Brotherton has
done much good work in reviews and criticisms
and in stories for children. "What the Wind
Told to the Tree Tops," a volume of children's
stories, published several years ago, received
much merited praise. Her most natural mode
of expression, however, is poetry, and she is
ever a true and helpful poet, and one whose
work has added to the riches of American lit-
erature.

Mary E. Cardwill.

The Writer.

Published monthly by The Writer Publishing Company, 282
Washington street, Rooms q and 10, Boston, Mass.

WILLIAM H. HILLS. . . . Editor.

%* The Writer is published the first day of every month.
It will be sent, post-paid, One Year for One Dollar.

%* All drafts and money orders should be made payable to
The Writer Publishing Co. Stamps, or local checks, should
not be sent in payment for subscriptions.

•** The Writer will be sent only to those who have paid for
it in advance. Accounts cannot be opened for subscriptions,
and names will not be entered on the list unless the subscription
order is accompanied by a remittance. When subscriptions ex-
pire the names of subscribers will be taken off the list unless an
order for renewal, accompanied by remittance, is received. Due
notice will be given to every subscriber of the expiration of his
subscription.

%*- No sample copies of The Writer will be sent free.

•,*The American News Company, of New York, and the
New England News Company, of Boston, and their branches,
are wholesale agents for The Writer. It may be ordered
from any newsdealer, or direct, by mail, from the publisher.

%* Everything that may be printed in the magazine will be
written expressly for it.

*«* Not one line of paid advertisement will be printed in The
Writer outside of the advertising pages.

%* Advertising rates will be sent on request.

*«* Contributions not used will be returned, if a stamped and
addressed envelope is enclosed.

THE WRITER PUBLISHING CO.,

282 Washington street ( Rooms 9 and 10 ),

P. O. Box 1905. Boston, Mass.

Vol. VII.^

June, 1894.

No. 6.

Short, practical articles on topics connected
with literary work are always wanted for The
Writer. Readers of the magazine are invited
to join in making it a medium of mutual help,
and to contribute to it any ideas that may occur
to them. The pages of The Writer are
always open for any one who has anything help-
ful and practical to say. Articles should be
closely condensed; the ideal length is about
1,000 words.

People who are interested in "the art of
advertising" — as some people call it nowadays
— have heard occasional complaints that new
books are less skilfully advertised than any
other wares offered by advertisers to the read-
-"5^ public. Book advertisements, these cap-

tious critics have been heard to say, are too
conventional, too formal, written and displayed
with anything but good judgment, ineffective,
and generally bad. Whether all this be true or
not, it is not necessary to consider here. One
publishing firm, however, has recently taken a
long step away from the conventional and
commonplace, as the following paid ** reading-
notice," recently published in the JVew York
Evening Post^ — with the names of books,
publishers, and authors, here supplied by
dashes, all printed out in full, — will show: —
answers to fashion correspondents.

MAUD — There is no objection to Brussels net, if you
prefer it, but plain black grenadine goes well with the bright
maroon and silver of "— — — — ,"' as that amusing novel lies
on your lap ready for the evening reading. . . . CON-
STANCE — A white and black gown — white silk with raised
pin-dots of black — is charming for summer silks and for cr^
pons. Thb is finely effective in contrast with the slate-colored

cloth binding of " ," *s delightful new

novel, just published by , , & Co. . . . TOTTIE

— Fortunately, your brown brilliantine is in good style again,
along with mohair and alpaca. Make it with a short pleated
basque, opening on a blue or black vest, cut on the bias. It

will match capitally with the sage-green binding of

— — 's " -^^ ,'* as you stand with the book by the

mantelpiece at afternoon tea. I'll go off and get one, too, at

's. . . . FLORENCE — The circular skirts of

last year are still worn and some new ones are made. Reeds
are not worn in the bottom of skirts. But on your lap you will

find strikingly effective the delicate cloth tint of " ,"

by ; and the stories, by the way, you will find

delightful reading. ETHEL — Have mutton-leg

sleeves to your China-silk waist. A drawn puff of the same
silk would be a neat trimming. But, Ethel, dear, you never

saw such a pretty shade of blue as I noticed at , — '■

to-day, in the binding of 's last novel, *' — ."

You should buy the book, if even for a bit of furniture. — ^</v/.

This advertisement — sandwiched in be-
tween a eulogy of somebody's liver pills and a
few remarks about somebody else's asbestos
boiler and pipe coverings — is unconventional
enough, as everybody must admit. If the pub-
lishers continue advertising in the same way,
the fact will make it evident, perhaps, that this
sort of advertising pays. w. h. h.

THE EDITORIAL 'M."

Why will so many writers persist in using
the ungrammatical singular " we " .'^ The
fashion is an antiquated one, which has come
down to us from our forefathers, and which is
wholly " out of date " to-day. The " I " is used
by all the best writers of the present time.

The chief objection to be urged against the

The Writer.

^use of " we " is that it often renders a writer's
meaning ambiguous or obscure. A sentence

^f Charles Dudley Warner's in the current
number of Harper's Monthly illustrates what
I mean. It reads: "This is what we mean by
saying that we are trying to make our educa-

^tional pyramid stand on its apex." Similarly,
an author, writing of her experiences at the
World's fair last summer, said: "We had a
good time." The reader was left to conjecture
whether the "we" referred to herself or to the
whole party which she accompanied.

Numerous other instances might be cited,
but these two suffice to illustrate my point.
The effect of the " we" is not so much to make
the sentence ambiguous, as to make it obscure.
Obscurity, however, is a fault almost as ob-
jectionable as ambiguity.

The "we" is allowable sometimes in the
editorial columns of newspapers, because the
opinions which emanate therefrom are not
essentially singular. They may be shaded,

•or entirely governed, by the political or busi-
ness policy of the paper. The best news-
papers, however, avoid the use of "we"
nowadays.

There is no good excuse for using the vague
"we" over one's own signature, or in a depart-
ment where individual opinions are expressed.
The AVa/ York Herald reporters even are
instructed to use "I," although their reports
have no signature.

Some writers imagine that the " I " smacks

• of /^^, but that is nonsense. When the "we"
is used for the first person singular it repre-
sents nothing more or less than the "I." Why
should one assume to give his opinion the
dignity of a plurality of wise-heads, when they

-are naught but the product of his own little

i brain ?

A, W. Dennis.

Lynn, Mass.

QUERIES.

[ Questions relating to literary work or literary topics will be
•answered in this department. Questions must be brief, and
•of general interest. Questions on general topics should be
•directed elsewhere.]

Some time ago The Writer published a list
«of books useful to writers. Will the editor

kindly reprint the list, with such additions as
may be suggested now ? T. m. s.

[ The editor of The Writer recommends
the following books, as many as possible of
which should be in every writer's library : —

Writing for thb Press- A Manual for Editors, Reporters,
Correspondents, and Printers. By Robert Luce. Fourth
edition, revised and enlarged. 96 pp. Cloth, $1.00.

Stbps Into Journalism: Helps and Hints for Young
Writers. By Edwin L. Shuman. 229 pp. Cloth, $1.25.

The Ladder of Journalism. By T. Campbell-Copeland.
115 pp. Paper, 50 cents.

The Trade of Authorship. By Wolstan Dixey. 128 pp.
Cloth, $1.00.

The Art of Authorship. Compiled by George Bainton.
355 PP' Cloth, $1.25.

Information for Authors. By Eleanor Kirk. 118 pp*
Cloth, $1.00.

Periodicals That Pay Contributors. By Eleanor Kirk.
57 pp. Cloth, $1.00.

The Rhymester ; or. The Rules of Rhyme. A guide to
English versification, with a dictionary of rhymes. By Tom
Hood ; edited, with additions, by Arthur Penn. 208 pp.
Cloth, $1.00.

Walker's Rhyming Dictionary. 720 pp. Cloth, $1.50.

The Science of English Verse. By Sidney Lanier. 3 15 pp.
Cloth, $2.00.

A Handbook of Poetics. By Professor F. B. Gummere.
250 pp. Cloth, $1.10.

Roget's Thesaurus of English Words and Phrases.
745 pp. Cloth, $2.00.

ENGLfSH Synonyms Explained in Alphabetical Order.
By George Crabb. 638 pp. Cloth, $1.00.

Practical Synonyms. By John H. Bechtel. 226 pp. Cloth,
50 cents.

The Principles of Rhetoric and Their Application.
With an appendix com -^rising general rules for punctuation.
By Adams Sherman Hill. pp. Cloth, 88 cents.

The Foundations of Rhetoric. By Adams Sherman Hill.
371 pp. Cloth, $1.00.

The Practical Elements of
Genung. 483 pp. Cloth, $1.40.

A Handbook of Rhetorical
Genung. 306 pp. Cloth, $1.25.

Outlines of Rhetoric. By John
Cloth, ;$i.io.

A Practical Course
Alphonso G. Newcomer.

How to Write Clearly.
Cloth, 60 cents.

A Treatise on English Punctuation. By John Wilson,
pp. Cloth, 1^1.25.

Punctuation and Other Typograhpical Matters. By
M. T. Bigelow. pp. Cloth, 50 cents.

Pens and Types. By Benjamin Drew. 214pp. Cloth, $1.00.

The Art of Fiction. Walter Besant and Henry Jamfts.
(Two essays in one volume.) 85 pp. Cloth, 75 cents.

The Art of Playwriting. A practical treatise on the ele-
ments of dramatic construction. By Alfred Hennequin.
187 pp. Cloth, $1.25.

The Technique of the Drama. By W. T. Price. 287 pp.
Cloth, ^1.50.

Mistakes in Writing English, and How to Avoid Them.
By M. T. Bigelow. Second edition, no pp. Cloth, 50 cents.

Handbook of Blunders. Designed to prevent 1,000 common
blunders in writing and speaking. By H. H. Ballard,
pp. Cloth, 50 cents.

Slips of Tongue and Pen. By J. H. Long. loi pp.
Cloth, 60 cents.

Errors in the Use of English. By Professor William B.
Hodgson. pp. Cloth, $u 50.

The Verbalist. B^ ^^ix^^ Mx«s». v^. ^::x.^'^A^.^»«

By John F.
By John F.
F. Genung. 331 pp.

Rhetoric
Analysis.

IN English Composition. By
249 pp. Cloth, 90 cents.

By Rev. Edwin A. Abbott. 78 pp.

The writer.

Practical Typewriting. By Bates Torrey. 156 pp.
Cloth, $1.00.

Thb Printer's Art. By Alexander A. Stewart. 113 pp.
Paper, $1.00.

Any of these books will be sent by The
Writer Publishing Co., postpaid, to any address,
on receipt of price. — w. h. h. ]

THE USE AND MISUSE OF WORDS.

[ Brief, pointed, practical paragraphs discussing the use and
misuse of words and phrases will be printed in this department.
All readers of Thb Writer are invited to contribute to it.
Contributions are limited to 400 words ; the briefer they are, the
better.]

<* Obliged to Have Asked " and *' Norn de
Plume." — The Boston Herald says that if
something or other had happened, Marion
Crawford "would not have felt obliged to have
asked a Smith College girl for permission to
use her nom de plume for the title of his latest
novel." Mr. Crawford did not feel obliged " to
have asked" for permission. And the Smith
College girl used " Katherine Lauderdale," not
as a " nom de plume^'' but as a " nom deguerre^

Winchester, Mass. R»

BOOK REVIEWS.

Dictionary of Quotations from Ancient and Modern Eng-
lish and Foreign Sources. Including phrases, mottoes, max-
ims, Droverbs, definitions, aphorisms, and sayings of wise
men, in their bearing on life, literature, speculation, science,
art, religion, and morals, especially in the modem aspects of
them. Selected and compiled by Rev. James Wood. 668
pp. Cloth, $2.50. New York : Frederick Warne & Co.
1893.

Familiar Quotations. A collection of passages, phrases,
and proverbs, traced to their sources in ancient and modem
literature. By John Bartlett. Ninth edition. 1,158 pp.
Cloth, $3.00. Boston: Little, Brown, & Co. 1893.

The use of a dictionary of quotations is two-
fold, — first, to furnish apt illustrations by pro-
viding a maxim or an epigram reinforcing an
idea, and, second, to give with exactness and
reference to its source a maxim or an epigram
the recollection of which is incomplete. The
merits of such a book, therefore, are complete-
ness in including a great number of maxims on
a great variety of subjects, exactness in giving
the quotations, and thoroughness in tracing
each, so far as may be possible, back to its
source. For most people, the second of the
two uses of the book is most important. There
are not many persons who sit down with malice
aforethought to read a dictionary of quotations
for the purpose of finding phrases to embellish
their writing or their speech. The chief use of
the book is that made of it when a writer wants
to quote exactly a quotation which he only half

remembers, or wants to trace a familiar andi
well-remembered quotation to its source. The
arrangement and indexing of such a book, there- -
fore, are of the first importance. Next comes,
the question of completeness, next that of ex-
actness in quotation and in reference, and*
finally that of good judgment in selecting the
quotations included in the work.

Of the two dictionaries mentioned at the be-
ginning of this review, Bartlett's has long been •
a standard American work, the first edition hav-
ing been published in 1855, and the ninth and
culminating edition having been copyrighted in
1 891. Each new edition of the book has been-
materially enlarged, the ninth edition, for in-
stance, being larger than the eighth by 350*
pages of text and 10,000 lines of index..
Wood's dictionary, on the other hand, is a new
book, begun, the author says, three years ago,
and only recently published in England and
America. It is only natural, then, that its-
merits should be judged by comparison with
the work to which Americans have looked for
nearly forty years as the standard of its kind. ■

The plan of Mr. Wood's book includes an
alphabetical list of quotations, arranged accord-
ing to the first letter of the first word, and fol-
lowed by a topical index, which, though copi-
ous, includes no mottoes and few proverbs,,
indexes quotations by ideas rather than by key-
words, and is intended only to refer to subjects
of which there is anything of significance said.-
The index, too, is limited to subjects that are
not mentioned in alphabetical order in the body
of the book. Thus, Mr. Wood says, there was-
no need to index what is said on certain pages -
about "Art," "Beauty," or "Christianity," as
the reader will expect to find something con-
cerning them where they occur in the order
adopted.

In Bartlett's dictionary there comes first an
alphabetical index of authors, with the pages of
the dictionary on which quotations from each
are to be found. This is followed by a list of
anonymous books cited. Then come the quo-
tations, all those from one author being put to-
gether under his name, and the date of his birth
and death being given in each case. The order-
of arrangement is chronological, the list begin-
ning with Chaucer, and ending with Grover
Cleveland, Bret Harte, and Francis W. Bour-
dillon. Following these come miscellaneous ■
quotations, translations, quotations from the
Bible, and an appendix explaining the orig^in of
many familiar phrases. Last of all is an ex-
haustive index by key-words to all the quota-
tions in the book.

The advantages of Bartlett's plan of arrange-
ment are manifest at a glance. Assume, for
instance, that a writer wishes to use the quota-
tion comparing the power of the songs of a.
nation and the power of its laws, which he may;*

The Writer.

remember, possibly — as, in fact, it was quoted in
a recent national song prize offer, made by the
editor of the Dominant — in this form : " 1 care
not who makes the nation's laws, if I might
write its ballads." Taking Wood's dictionary,
the searcher naturally looks first under " I care
not," and finds out at once that if the quotation
is in the book his memory of it is inexact. He
next tries the index, deciding that the main
key-words of the sentence are "ballads,"
"nation," and "laws." Under the headings
"laws" and "nation" he finds nothing to his
purpose. Under the headine "ballads," how-
ever, he finds the entry, " Ballads more power-
ful than laws, 241, 33," and, turning to page
241, he finds the thirty-third of the forty-nine
quotations on the page — every fifth quotation
being numbered by a figure in the margin —
noted thus : —

Let me make the ballads of a people, and I care not who
makes the laws. Quoted by FUiciur of Salioun.

Now let the searcher take up Bartlett's dic-
tionary, assuming that he knows no more about
the quotation than he did when he started out
to find exactly what it is. He has the key-
words " ballads," " nation," and " laws." Under
" laws " he finds the entry, " Laws of a nation,
281 " : under " nation " he finds the entry,
" Nation, ballads of a, 281 "; under "ballads "
he finds "Ballads of a nation, 281." All these
references send him to page 281, where he finds
the following : —

ANDREW FLETCHER OF SALTOUN. 1653— 1716.

I knew a very wise man that believed that if a man were per-
mitted to make all the ballads, he need not care who should
make the laws of a nation.— Z^^//^r to the Marquis of Montrose ^
the Earl of Rothes, etc.

It appears from this that, if the searcher's
memory of the quotation had been that it spoke
of " songs," instead of " ballads," he would
have failed to find it in Wood's dictionary, since
the only key to the phrase in Wood's index is
under the word "ballads." In the same case,
on the other hand, he would have found the
quotation all right in Bartlett's dictionary, for,
although he would have discovered no mention
of it in the index under " songs," he would have
found the necessary reference in two other
places, under "nation" and under "laws."
Moreover, having traced the quotation in
Wood's dictionary, he finds that it is given in-
exactly; in Bartlett's dictionary, on the other
hand, he gets not only Fletcher's exact phrase,
but the dates of Fletcher's life.

Throughout, Bartlett's dictionary has the ad-
vantage in the exactness with which quotations
and references are given. Rev. Mr. Woods
says in his preface: "Except in the case of
quotations from Shakespeare, the editor has
quoted only the names of the authors or the
books from which they are taken, or has not.

as might be expected of him, supplied either
chapter or verse, because he did not think it
worth the labor and expense that would have
been involved." It may be doubted whether
those who use the book will agree with Mr^
Wood in this. Not only is it desirable to trace
a quotation to its source, and make certain o£
its exact form, but it is often important to know
the context in which the quotation originally
appeared. Bartlett always gives exact refer-
ences, as, for example : " Canterbury Tales.
Troilus and Creseide. Book III. Line 1721.""
His quotations, too, are generally more exact
than those of Mr. Wood.

The greatest usefulness of Wood's dictionary
comes from the fact that it has a broader plan,
than Bartlett's, including quotations, in the
original, from Latin, Greek, French, German,
Italian, and other languages, as well as English..
"Gnothi seauton," for example, is given in
Greek, while in Bartlett only the translation,
" Know thyself," is indexed. In Bartlett, how-
ever, the use of the idea by Pope and Cervantes
is quoted, while under the passage from Plu-
tarch's " Consolation to ApoUonius" containing
it is a foot-note saying: "Plutarch ascribes
this saying to Plato. It is also ascribed to
Pythagoras, Chilo, Thales, Cleobulus, Bias, and
Socrates; also to Phemone, a mythical Greek
poetess of the ante-Homeric period. Juvenal
( Satire xi, 27 ) says that this precept descended
from heaven." Bartlett, in short, gives more
information about the phrase, but Wood gives
the original Greek, which Bartlett does not.
In the same way, Wood's dictionary includes
the French, ".^/r^j bien qui rira le dernier ^^'
( " He laughs best who laughs last " ), while Bart-
lett does not mention even the English saying,
his nearest approach to it being Othello's
"They laugh that win," — which Wood also-
gives.

As Rev. Mr. Wood is an Englishman, it is,
perhaps, not strange that his dictionary makes-
no mention of the familiar, "First in war, first
in peace, and first in the hearts of his country-
men." Bartlett, on the other hand, quotes the
phrase from the memoirs of Colonel Henry
Lee (1756-1816), as it was spoken in Lee's
eulogy of Washington, December 26, 1799, and
in a foot-note gives further information regard-
ing the quotation and its origin.

As a final example of the way in which Mr.
Wood's index works, may be cited his treatment
of the phrase which ought to be engraved deep in
every writer's memory : " Easy writing's curst
hard reading." In Wood's dictionary the index
entry is : —

Writing, advantage of, 369, 9 ; art of, secret of, 53, q ; bene-
fit to few, 469, 6 ; clear, condition of, 554, 30 ; condition of,.
305, 23; ease in, how acquired, 449, 45; easy. Sheridan on^
568, 6 ; etc.

The searcher for the epi^ra.rc^'^Vv'CiV'i&sgi^.'s*^

The Writer.

far as this then turns to page 568, and the sixth
-quotation on that page he finds to be : —

You write with ease to show your breeding,
But easy writing's cursed hard reading.

— Sheridan.

It will be noticed that "curst" is misquoted
" cursed." On page 76, however, in the proper
alphabetical place under " Easy," the quotation,
" Easy writing's curst hard reading. — Sheri-
dan^''^ is correctly given. Bartlett quotes the
couplet, and credits it as follows : " Clio's Pro-
test. Life of Sheridan (Moore). Vol. I.,

p. 155."

The conclusion is that the writer who is try-
ing to decide which of these two dictionaries he
would better buy should buy both. If he cannot
afford that, he will probably find Bartlett's the
more generally useful of the two, since it is
more nearly complete, more exact, more thor-
ough, better planned, and better arranged.
Wood's dictionary supplements Bartlett*s, how-
ever, in a most useful way, particularly because
it gives so many quotations in foreign lan-
guages. With both books in his library, there
will be very few desired quotations that the
owner of the dictionaries will try in vain to find.

w. H. H.

In Varying Moods. By Beatrice Harraden. American copy-
right edition. a86 pp. Cloth, $1.00. New York: G. P.
Putnam's Sons. 1894.

The success of "Ships That Pass in the
Night" is naturally followed by the publication
of another volume of Miss Harraden's work.
*' In Varying Moods " is a collection of strong
and interestmg short stories, of which the long-
est, " At the Green Dragon," fills about a hun-
dred pages. The author's brief preface, signed
with a fac-simile of her autograph, tells us that
the story " was written in Mentone, amongst
the olive trees," and that, as she now writes, the
landlady of the Green Dragon sends her a box
of daffodils and asks if she has yet invented a
tale about her favorite inn. In the preface are
given also hints of the origin of " The Painter
and His Picture," "The Umbrella Mender,"
and "The Clockmaker and His Wife," other
stories in the book. Most of the tales. Miss
Harraden says, have in them more of truth than
fiction. It is interesting to notice that this book
is copyrighted in America. " Ships That Pass
in the Night " was not protected by American
copyright, and there were many unauthorized
editions of it. w. h. h.

Photographic Mosaics. An annual record of photographic
progress. Edited by Edward L. Wilson. Thirtieth year.
295 pp. Cloth, $1.00. New York : Edward L. Wilson.
1894.

Any one who is fortunate enough to have a
complete set of the annual volumes of " Photo-
graphic Mosaics " from the beginning has a
•^complete record of progress in photography

during the last thirty years. The little books
are invaluable to all who are interested in the
photographic art. The 1894 volume, for in-
stance, begins with an historical record of
photographic discoveries and inventions during
1893, touching on such subjects — among
scores of others — as " Photographing the
Vowel Sounds," "Photography Without
Light," " Flexible Glass," " The Field-glass
Camera," " Tele-photographic Lenses," " Hand-
camera Work," " Photography by Artificial
Light," "Watch Dial Portraits,'^ etc., etc.
Following this are papers by experts on various
subjects connected with photography, interest-
ing to amateurs and professionals alike. A
lavishly illustrated article on " Brittany : Illus-
trated oy Hand-camera and Lantern," and " The
Last Venture of the Photographer," a story by
Alphonse Daudet, are features of the book,
which has besides many fine half-tone pictures.
Altogether, "Photographic Mosaics " for 1894
is a very interesting and useful little book —
something that every one who is interested in
photographic work should have. w. h. h.

Sir Francis Bacon's Cipher Story. Discovered and de-
ciphered by Orville W. Owen, M. D. Vol. II. aoo pp.
Paper. Detroit : Howard Publishing Co. 1894.

The frontispiece of Dr. Owen's second vol-
ume of his " cipher story " is a picture of the
"wheel," improvised for ready reference, used
by him in deciphering what he assures the
world is Bacon's cryptogram. When Dr. Owen
goes farther and explains the system on which
his work is done, the results of it may be
worthy of serious attention. Until then it is
not worthy of consideration. w. h. h.

BOOKS RECEIVED.

[ All books sent to the editor of Thb Writer will be ac-
knowledged under this heading. They will receive such farther
notice as may be warranted by their importance to readers of
he magazine.]

Sebastian. A dramatic poem. 93 pp. Cloth. BufiEalo:
Charles Wells Moulton. 1894.

They Met in Heaven. By George H, Hepworth. 209 pp.
Cloth, 75 cents. New York : E. P. Dutton & Co. 1894.

HELPFUL HINTS AND SUGGESTIONS.

To Read Curled Manuscripts Easily. —
When one is trying td copy a manuscript which
has been rolled, a satisfactory method of hold-
ing the objectionable matter under control is
simply to lay a pane of glass over the opened
sheet. When the paper is held thus there will
be no trouble in reading all that is written on
the page ; and copyists will be saved the bother

The Writer.

95^

of giving frequent attention, otherwise neces-
sary, to weight the curling sheet.

C S. Wady.

SOMBRVILLB, MaSS.

Typewriter Backing Sheet. — Now that so
many literary people are using the typewriter
for making manuscript, some of them may
like to know of a trick for saving the bother
of rolling in a backing sheet with each written
page, which I saw described some time ago
in the Phonographic World, Here are the
directions : Dampen a strong sheet of linen
paper as evenly as possible, either with a sponge
or by drawing it through water and then
placing it between blotting pads to remove the
surplus water; then roll the sheet round the
platen while it is moist, fastening the last end
with mucilage. When the sheet is dry it will
be found to adhere very tightly and smoothly to
the platen. When the paper becomes worn it
can be readily removed with the penknife, as
the mucilage does not touch the platen. To do
this will take but a few minutes, and the sheet
will last for several weeks, not only saving much
time and effort, but also preserving the platen.

CiNaNNATI, O. -A.. L. S.

LITERARY ARTICLES IN PERIODICALS

[The publisher of The Writer will send to any address a
copy of any magazine mentioned in the following reference list
on receipt of the amount given in parenthesis following the name
— the amount being in each case the price of the periodical,
with three cents postage added. Unless a price is given, the
periodical must be ordered from the publication office. Readers
who send to the publishers of the periodicals indexed for copies
containing the articles mentioned in the list will confer a favor
if they will mention The Writer when they write.]

Fashion and Intellect. W. H. Mallock. North Ameri'
can Review ( 53 c. ) for June.

Four Clever Illustrators ( Charles Dana Gibson, by
Alice Graham McCoilin ; Albert B. Wenzell, by Mrs. Hamil-
ton Mott; Reginald B. Birch, by Florence Wilson; Frank
Otis Small, by Dorothy Chase). With portraits. Ladies^
Home Journal (13 c.) for June.

My Literary Passions. William Dean Howelis. Ladies^
Nome Journal { 13 c. ) for June.

My First Literary Acquaintances. R. H. Stoddard.
Lippineott^s Magazine ( 28 c. ) for June.

Some Masks and Faces of Literature. Walter Black-
bum Harte. Worthington^ s Magazine ( 28 c. ) for June.

How News Is Gathered. Illustrated. Arthur Field.
Demcresfs Family Magazine ( 23 c. ) for June.

The Passing of the Essay. Agnes Repplier. Lippinr
cotfs Magazine ( a8 c. ) for June.

Some Letters and Conversations of Thomas Car>
lyle. Sir EUiward Strachey. Atlantic Monthly (38 c.) for
June. I

My First Visit to New England. William Dean
Howelis. Harper* s Magazine ( 38 c. ) for June.

Memoirs of Wendell Phillips. George W. Smalley.
Harper*s Magazine ( 38 c. ) for June.

Portraits in Fiction. Charles Dudley Warner. Editor's
Study in Harper's Magazine ( 38 c. ) for June.

The Eyk as an Optical Instrument. Austin Flint,
M. D. Popular Science Monthly ( 53 c. ) for June.

Photo-telegraphy. Photographic Tinus ( 18 c. each ) for
April 27, May 4, and May 11.

Photographs for Half-tone Cuts, Photographic
Times ( 18 c. ) for May 18.

Every Man His Own Publisher. George S. Cottman.
Chicago Magazine ( 18 c. ) for May.

The Gentle Reader. The Point of View, in Scriiner^s
Magazine ( 28 c. ) for June.

Edison's Invention of the Kineto-Phonograph. Anto-
niaand W. K. L. Dickson. With an introduction by Thomas
A. Edison. Century ( 38 c. ) for June.

The Mother of Ivan Tourgu^nbff. Hjalmar Hjorth
Boyesen. Century ( 38 c. ) for June.

Bookbindings of the Present. Brander Matthews.
Century ( 38 c. ) for June.

Jambs Whitcomb Riley. With portrait. Chicago
Graphic (13 c.) for May 12.

Stratford.on-Avon. Illustrated. Chicago Graphic
( 13 c. ) for May 19.

'• George Egbrton " ( Mrs. Clairmonte ). With portrait.
Chicago Graphic ( 13 c. ) for May 19.

Hblbn H. Gardener. With portrait. Journalist (13 c.)
for May 5.

News-writers. James Wyllys Dixon. Journalist ( 13 c. )
for May 12.

McClurb*s Magazine and Its Conductors. Fourth
Estate (8c.) for May 24.

The Library of Congress. Louis J. Vance. Harper^s
Young People (8c.) for May 22.

How TO Make a Bbll Electric Telephone for Eight
Cents. Mortimer A. Lopez. Harper's Young People (8c.)
for May 22.

Anne Bozeman Lyon. With portrait. Southern Maga-
zine ( 28 c. ) for May.

Jane Barlow. With portrait. James MacArthur, Critic
(13 c.) for May 12.

Beatrice Harraden. Portrait. Critic for May x2.
Irish Surnames. Nation ( 13 c. ) for May 24.

Author and Pubusher Again. Editor's Table, Southern
Magazine ( 28 c. ) for June.

Reuben T. Durbtt. With portrait. Thomas Edwin
Spencer. Southern Magazine (28 c. ) for June.

A Chat with Beatrice Harraden. J. L, G. Critic
( 13 c. ) for May 19.

Rhyme, Rhythm, Poetry, and Common Sense. Edgar
Fawcett. Independent lor IAtly i-j.

The Personal Equation in Literary Style. Joel
Benton. New York Home Journal for May 9.

Beatrice Harraden Interviewed. New Yorh World
for May 6.

John Jacob Astor. E. J. Edwards. Atchison (Kan.)
Globe for May 10.
John Jacob Astor Interviewed by Nelue Bly. New

Ycrk World tor M&y 13.

^94

The Writer.

Full Report of Addrbssbs .at Authors* Breakfast.
Salem ( Mass. ) Gazette for May 7.

W. Hamilton Gibson. Arthur Stedman. Galvetton
News for May 8.

John Swinton. Keens ( N. H. ) Sentinel lor May a.

Mrs. Harriet M. Converse. Berkshire Sunday EagU
( Pittsfield, Mass. ) for May 6.

The Essentials of Good Bookbinding. John H.
McNamec. Cambridge Tribune for May 5.

Ik Marvel in Old Age. Reprinted from New York
Times in Boston Globe for May 7.

Hbzekiah Botterworth. With portrait. Boston Home
.Journal for May 19.

Shall Authors Combine for Mutual Protection?
Charles Burr Todd. New York Home Journal for May 16.

Louisville Authors. Louisville Courierjoumal for
May 6.

Mary E. Wilkins at Home. Boston Traveller for
May 12.

NEWS AND NOTES.

Mr. and Mrs. John Armstrong Chanler,
accompanied by Miss Ella Page, of Albemarle,
Va., will leave "Castle Hill" about June i, for
an extended trip through the Holy Land.

William Winter, dramatic critic of the New
York Tribune, sailed for England May 9 for a
vacation.

Mrs. Kate Douglas Wiggin has gone to
England, where she will spend several weeks.

Rev. Dr. Cuyler and Mr. and Mrs. Thomas
Nelson Page sailed for Europe on the same
steamer May 19.

The price of MunsorCs Phonographic News
(New York) has been reduced from two dollars
to one dollar a year.

Mrs. Beatrice Harraden arrived in New
York May 2, on her way to California.

Theodore Stanton, after twelve years' so-
journ in Paris, intends to resume his residence
in the United States.

Howard Challen, publisher of labor-saving
record books, has removed to 165 Broadway,
New York.

The Penfield Publishing Co. has been incor-
porated at Asbury Park, N. J., with a capital
stock of $100,000. It will publish the New
Peterson Magazine, Arthur'' s New Home Maga-
zine, and other periodicals. All the editorial
work of these publications, as well as the print-
ing, binding, and mailing, will be done at
Asbury Park.

McClure's Magazine has removed to 30
Lafayette place, New York. S. S. McClure,
the publisher, has returned from Europe.

The name of the author of "The Story of
Margr^del," which was withheld during its
serial publication in Blackwood* s and from the
title-page of the book, is now announced to be
David Storrar Meldrum.

The petition to Congress, which is circulated
by the American Dramatists* Club, that the
copyright act be amended so as to make flagrant
violations of it punishable by imprisonment, is
meeting generous support. The American
Dramatists* Club — president, Bronson How-
ard, and vice-president, Henry Guy Carleton

— has taken the matter up with great vigor,
and as a result thousands of signatures have
been received from almost every state of the
Union. At the rooms of the club. No. 47 West
Twenty-eighth street, New York, it is said that
the leading managers of the country are taking
the greatest interest in the movement.

A man of wide experience in the world of
books, among publishers and authors, says that
Miss Wilkins owes the marked favor of the
great public to her little old-English words;
that she writes, " I don't want a word out of your
mouth about it, father,** where another author
might say, "The son implored his father not to
express such opinions.*' Certain it is that
" Pembroke " contains a large proportion of
words of one syllable and Anglo-Saxon origin.

Mrs. Alexander, the novelist, has been lame
for two years, owing to an apparently trifling
accident. She hurt her knee sitting in the
cramped position it was necessary to maintain
when seated in the dress circle of one of the
London theatres. She is now unable to walk
without a stick.

M argot Tennant, now wife of the English
home secretary, Asquith, received this note
from Mr. Benson, the author, who took Miss
Tennant for the heroine of his story, " Dodo.'*
" Dear Miss Tennant — All the world is talk-
ing of you and my novel ; when may I come to
see you?** She replied: "Dear Mr. Benson

— Did you really write a novel ? How clever
of you ! Come and see me at any time." When
he called she was out.

The Writer.

An interesting sketch of Charles L. Tiffany,
of New York, and of the house of Tiffany &
•Co., of which he is the head, has been written
^by George Frederic Heydt, and is published in

• a beautiful volume, richly bound in full
'inorocco. The typography of the book is ex-
^quisite, and Mr. Heydt's sketch of the history
-of the well-known firm possesses more than
•ordinary interest.

Book News (Philadelphia) for May has por-
traits and biographies of Celia Thaxter and
-Olive Thortie Miller.

Samuel L. Clemens ( " Mark Twain " ) sailed
Aox Europe May 9. The liabilities of his firm,
Charles L. Webster & Co., are fixed by the
. assignee at about $80,000.

The Elzevir Company, of New York, man-
aged by John B. Alden, made an assignment
May 2.

The liabilities of the Russell Publishing Co.,

*of Boston, were fixed at the time of the com-
pany's failure at about $40,000. At a sale of
the company's property by the assignees May

fci4 $3,450 were realized. The property sold
-consisted of the publications Our Little Ones

.and the Whole Family^ which were bought by
Hartshorn & Petti ngill, who publish the House-

.hold. This same firm has also bought the
Cottage Hearth.

Judgment for $6,835 was entered in New
York May 25 against the Housewife Corpora-
tion, pubhsher, of No. 83 Warren street, in
favor of Wynkoop & Hallenbeck, on the attach-
ment obtained by them May i.

M. Zola is as systematic and as sure to do a
certain number of pages, and no more, each day
as the late Anthony Trollope was. Each of his
books contains about 500 pages of forty lines
to a page.

Mrs. Humphry Ward is living in a pretty

• country house at Tring.

Will Carleton contributed " Betsy and I Are

Out" to the Toledo Blade while he was a

salaried writer on that paper, and received only

^* editorial encouragement" in return for it.

^'Over the Hill to the Poorhouse," was con-

-^ributed to Harper'* s Monthly and brought him

^ check for $30. The poorhouse referred to in

rthe poem is the one near Hillsdale, Mich.

An ** Authors' Breakfast " was given in Salem
May 5, in honor of the American Authors'
Guild, by the Salem Thought and Work Club.
Among the distinguished guests were : Edward
Everett Hale, Julia Ward Howe, Robert Grant,
Olive Thome Miller, Ella Wheeler Wilcox,
James Grant Wilson, president of the Guild,
Titus Munson Coan, Charles FoUen Adams, J.
T. Trowbridge, Elizabeth Akers Allen, Charles
Burr Todd, Craven Langstroth Betts, Walter
Blackburn Harte, Ednah Dow Cheney, and
Hezekiah Butterworth.

Mrs. Mary Holland Lee, author of " Margaret
Salisbury," will spend the summer months at
her country home in Shrewsbury, Mass.

" Ouida " ( Louise de la Ram^e ) sold her
household effects and other portable property,
including her manuscripts, at auction, at
Florence, Italy, May 21.

Jordan, Marsh, & Co., Boston, announce
an art exhibition to be given in November,
and offer to artists who have lived in New
England for one year a special prize of $1,500,
two prizes of $300 each, and three prizes of $200
each, for the best paintings of New England
subjects that may be submitted. The picture
winning the grand prize is to be presented to
the Boston Museum of Fine Arts.

Current Topics ( Chicago ) has changed its
name to the Chicago Magazine.

Harper^s Magazine for June contains eighty-
four pictures. Few books have so many.
Among them is a portrait of Owen Wister, in-
cluded in Charles Belmont Davis' article on
Philadelphia.

Among other attractive features in the Maga-
zine of Art { New York ) for June is an article
with nine illustrations on "The Authentic Por-
traits of Robert Burns."

" The Master" is the title of a new story by
L Zangwill, the publication of which has just
been commenced in Harper's Weekly.

A series of portraits of Richard Harding
Davis will appear in the department of ** Human
documents " in the June number of McClure^s
Magazine (New York ).

The circulation of the New York World is
now more than 433,000 corves ^d^.

The Writer.

Austin Abbott contributes to the May
Review of Reviews (New York) a valuable
r^sum^ of the life-work of David Dudley Field.
The article is illustrated with portraits of the
distinguished Field brothers.

In the privately printed volume of " Selected
Letters of Malcolm Kingsley Macmillan "is a
letter written by Mr. Macmillan to his brother,
in which he says of his friend, Francis Marion
Crawford : " Crawford was up a day or two
lately, and I am more than ever struck with
the fact that he is far more remarkable than his
books. He speaks four languages so that the
natives cannot detect him for a foreigner. He
knows a good deal of Sanskrit, though he hardly
ever refers to it. He learnt Norwegian*, so as
to pronounce it properly, in about three lessons
from Ross. He is a good fencer, a good sailor,
and can do silver repoussde work. With no
training, he has designed the entire reconstruc-
tion of his house at Sorrento. Both in mathe-
matics and draughtsmanship he is more than
mediocre. He seems able to do almost any-
thing he turns his attention to. The one thing
he has almost entirely neglected is modern
literature; and he always says that he is not
really a literary man. In this there is some
truth, though he has a kind of imagination that
he throws into everything.*'

Stanley Waterloo, the Chicago author and
newspaper man, engaged with a publisher to
have a book on the Coxey movement ready for
the press within four days. He began Monday
morning, April 30, with a staff of writers,
photographers, and typewriters, and Thursday
night, May 3, the copy for a book of 100,000
words, with forty illustrations, was in the hands
of the printers.

Mrs. Mary Cahill, of Brooklyn, otherwise
known as " Marie Walsh," author of " Hazel
Kirke " and other novels, has adopted South
Dakota as her home, for the purpose of procur-
ing a divorce. Mrs. Cahill's husband lives in
Chicago, where he edits the Home Lights a
Roman Catholic weekly.

The Cassell Publishing Co. announces
" Wanted, A Copyist," a story which touches
on newspaper work, and " Chaperoned," an
addition to the Unknown Library.

D. Appleton & Co. announce " Climbing in?
the Himalayas," by Dr. William Martin Con-
way, vice-president of the Alpine Club ; " Cleo-
patra," a new historical romance by Dr. Georg
Ebers; "A Daughter of To-day," by Mrs..
Everard Cotes (Sara Jeannette Duncan )^
" Mary Fenwick's Daughter," by Beatrice
Whitby ; and " General Washington," by Gen-
eral Bradley T. Johnson.

Poultney Bigelow gave a dinner in London
to Mark Twain May 17.

Wilson's Photographic Magazine (New
York) for May has a portrait and sketch of
John A. Tennant, its associate editor.

The National Baptist has been sold for
$16,000 to the owner of the New York Ex-
aminer, and its publication in Philadelphia is
to be discontinued. Since 1872 Rev. Dr. H. L.-
Wayland has edited the National Baptist, and
he became its owner in 1883.

"Aunt Fanny," thus best known from her books
for children, died in New York, May 7, aged
seventy-two. She was Mrs. Frances Elizabeth
(Mease) Barrow, a native of Charleston, S. C,
and had been writing ever since 1855. Her
" Little Pet " books, " Six Mitten " books, " Pop-
gun" stories, "Nightcap" series, and others,
went through many editions and had a great
circulation both in America and England. Mrs.
Barrow was also a writer for the New York
Ledger.

General Matthew M. Trumbull died in Chi-
cago May 9, aged sixty-eight. He wrote chiefly
under the pen name, " Wheelbarrow."

Professor Henry Morley, the distinguished
author and lecturer, died at Carisbrooke, Isle
of Wight, May 14.

Thomas Niles, senior member of the firm of
Roberts Bros., Boston, died in Perugia, Italy,
May 18, aged sixty-nine.

Andrew J. Graham, author of Graham's sys-
tem of phonography, died at Orange, N. J.,.
May 19, aged sixty-four.

Edmund Yates died of apoplexy in London
May 20, aged sixty-three.

Professor George John Romanes, F. R. S.,
LL. D., died suddenly at Oxford, England^.
May 23, aged forty-six.

The

Writer:

A MONTHLY MAGAZINE TO INTEREST AND HELP ALL LITERARY WORKERS.

Vol. VII.

BOSTON, JULY, 1894.

No. 7.

Entered at the B9ST0N Post-office as second-class mail matter.

CONTENTS : pagb

Dr. RoDRiGUKS Ottolbngui. Stephen L. Coles ... 97
Inconsistencies OF Illustration. Harriet Caryl Cox. 98
The Cult of the Meaningless. Forrest Morgan. . 99
The Known to the Unknown, yid. H. Gibson. . . 102
One Use of the Comma. E. Lincoln Kellogg. . . .103

Editorial 104

The Business Side of Book Publishing, 104 — Using
the Plionograph, 104 — A Good Piece of Copy-editing,
105 — Number of Characters in Well-known Novels. 106
Shall Writers Advertise? Clifton S. VVady. . . .106

The Scrap Basket 106

The Use and Misuse of Words 106

"I Feel Badly.'* 106

Newspaper English Edited 107

Book Reviews 107

Helpful Hints AND Suggestions no

" How to Read." no

Literary Articles in Periodicals no

News and Notes m

DR. RODRIGUES OTTOLENGUI.

Rodrigues Ottolengui, the author of *'An
Artist in Crime," "A Conflict of Evidence/'
and "A Modern Wizard," — three of the latest,
most successful, and subtle detective stories, —
is slightly built, dark complexioned, and of
medium height, a close student, an ardent and
intense literary worker, and the possessor of a
keenly analytical and logical mind. His mental
qualities are apparent to his readers in his
work, as well as to his friends, who also appre-
ciate fully his personal magnetism. In his pro-
fession as a dentist he has achieved enviable
success, not alone in his practical work, but, as
a result of this, in the production of highly com-
mended scientific essays and text-books.

Dr. Ottolengui was born in Charleston, S.C,
in 1861. He obtained his early education in
that city, and came North in 1876, receiving his
diploma conferring the degree of M. D. S. at
Albany, N. Y., at the age of twenty-two. He

has always practiced in New York City. He
began contributing stories and sketches to the
daily and Sunday local papers in Charleston in
1874. His "Switchman's Story," published in
a book of recitations about 1884, has been
widely read and recited. Dr. Ottolengui has
contributed a large number of articles on den-
tistry to the leading journals in this country,
and many of the productions of his pen have
been translated into foreign languages.

His first serious work was a text-book for
dental colleges, entitled " Methods of Filling
Teeth." The illustrations were drawn from
240 models made for the purpose by Dr. Otto-
lengui. He received $1,000 in cash and a
handsome royalty for the manuscript of this
book. The work is chiefly characterized by its
analytical methods, every one of which has been
practically accomplished by the author in his
personal practice. The originality and novelty
of the work gave it at once an educational popu-
larity as flattering to its author as it was valua-
able to the dental profession.

Dr. Ottolengui's first published distinctly liter-
ary effort was "An Artist in Crime," which was
brought out by G. P. Putnam's Sons, of New
York, in the autumn of 1892. The book pleased
the public and the critics generally, having re-
ceived but two derogatory reviews. Before this
Dr. Ottolengui had written three romances, one
of which has since been rewritten and pub-
lished, while the others are lying fallow. "A
Conflict of Evidence," published by the Put-
nams in the summer of 1893, was his next book
to appear. These two works are narratives
only, the author's first real attempt at novel-
writing being " A Modern Wizard," which has
been before the public but a few weeks.

Dr. Ottolengui's methods of work are charac-
teristic. He uses no notes ^ tK^ x^V^.^'Sk'v'^'sN.^x-N

THE WRITER.

is first mapped out in his mind, the theme is
decided upon, and the central characters are
studied out. He is then ready to write, the
original draft being made on a typewriter. One
whole chapter is written at each sitting, and no
part of this manuscript is corrected or altered
in any way until the whole story is finished.
Then the manuscript is revised and edited with
pen and ink and copied over again on the type-
writer. The manuscript is again edited, and
this time all punctuation and spelling are as
carefully scrutinized as if it were the final page
proof. Dr. Ottolengui corrects all his own
proof. He lays great stress on the elementary
requirements of authorship, endeavoring to
have his language grammatical, and striving to
avoid errors of this kind. He writes one chap-
ter, averaging about fifteen typewritten pages,
in three hours.

In beginning a story Dr. Ottolengui starts
with a motif and a problem to prove. Each
individual character is modelled in his mind
and thought over until it seems a living pres-
ence. With the theme and the characterization

in his mind, the author occupies the position of
an amanuensis, and the situations are a logical
result of the action of the story as it progresses.
Although laying no pretence to a professional
knowledge of the law, the medico-legal portions
of Dr. Ottolengui's writing, especially shown in
the trial scene in " A Modern Wizard," are
scientific and correct, and have received high
praise from both lawyers and physicians. He
never hesitates to probe a reference to the last
and latest authority. Many of the seemingly
mysterious effects prominently apparent in his
stories are directly traceable to known causes,
and the deft and popular way in which the
author leads the reader to an easy understand-
ing of the matter in hand relieves the latter at
once of any misgivings that he may be getting
into deep water. Dr. Ottolengui's stories are
remarkable for their ingenuity of conception,
originality of situations, cleverness of plot,
accuracy of detail, and the popularity they have
made for their author.

Stephen L, Coles.

Nbw York, N. Y.

INCONSISTENCIES OF ILLUSTRATION.

It is all very well to have your story or
article embellished by illustrations ; the pictures
make it more attractive, and the young author
feels a pride that his thought should be more
fully transmitted to the admiring public by
means of the illustrator's art; yet there are times
when in an agony the suffering author would
cry, Dott't ; oh, don't.

It is bad enough when the creature you have
made the embodiment of all charms and graces,
a maiden fair and slender, appears in a gown
the style of which dates some two years back,
and with a physique that is anything but
" willowv."

This is a trifle light as air, however, compared
with the atrocious cruelty of depicting a youth-
ful hero first in short trousers, then in long and
verj whole ones, and later in knee breeches.

and very ragged ones at that. Think of the
feelings of that boy at being put back !

Yet such a cruel thing as this has actually
been done. In extenuation, let it be said that
while it was the same boy, he appeared in three
separate stories, and possibly each was placed
in the hands of a different illustrator. Yet con-
sistency in his apparel is something which
should have been seen to.

The same editor accepted the three stories,
and they followed each other quite closely. In
the first the boy was very small, a newsboy, in
short trousers. In the second he had been pro-
moted to office boy; he had grown consider-
ably, in fact was quite unrecognizable, but this
might have been attributed to his rise in life.
But in the third story, alas! he was again a
ragged youngster in knickerbockers.

The Writer.

The general reader may have passed these

blunders by unnoticed, but to the author

^hey were annoying. At best, one's conception

can be but inadequately expressed by the illus-

ctrator. Can not the author, then, in justice de-

mand that his work be exempt from all attempts
at illustration, if illustration invites these glaring
inconsistencies ?

Harriet Caryl Cox*

Abington, Mass.

THE CULT OF THE MEANINGLESS.

Naturally, most of the discussions in The
Writer are on the composition of prose,
^though now and then one has crept in on that
•of poetry. I say poetry rather than verse, be-
cause if verse is not poetry, it has no business
to exist — though it does in large quantities.
But I have a word to say on how not to write it,
illustrated by one or two dreadful examples.
The lesson is by no means without use even for
the writers of prose.

Modern poetry — very modern poetry — has
two fundamental divisions. One is the old, and
fortunately still the chief, in which the expres-
sion of an idea is the primary object ; if the idea
is a poor one, that is the intellectual misfortune
of the author, but it is usually the best he can
do at the time. In this sort the verbal phras-
ing, however carefully wrought for intrinsic
beauty, is still subordinate, a mere means of
developing and adorning the germinal idea.
But with Keats, to whom poetry was primarily
a luxurious titillation of the senses, came in
another species, the exact reverse of this : one
in which the words are the first thought, and
the meaning is wholly subordinate, and often
grudgingly stinted of care, as being only an un-
avoidable hindrance. This class, when full-
blown, as in the unlovely fungus I shall use for
illustration, is, in spite of a surface pretence of
meaning, essentially gibberish, like " Jabber-
wocky " or the " Laura Matilda " verses in
** Rejected Addresses " ; that is, while any one
word means or may mean something, there is
no certainty that any two put together will, nor
any consistent efiEort to make them. The
. ^mosaic is not in design an artistic pattern
^vrought in stone, but a collection of pretty

stones which cannot be dumped in at absolute
random and gain acceptance as art, and must
therefore be given some sort of arrangement.

Much of " Endymion " is of this order : there
are sections of it which stand out dazzlingly
solid, like diamonds in a fog; but after reading
it intermittently for many years, I do not know
what the bulk of it is about, and have never
seen any one who did. The Quarterly Review-
ers had much cause, and are unjustly reviled.
Keats' later work was different, though even
the godlike " Hyperion " shows the taint ; but
he had created a type too grateful to sensuous
temperaments and unexacting intellects to let
die, and the afflicting school of poetic word-
painters and colorists is the result. Care niust
be taken not to confound it with the work of
the word-music school, which often ends in ex-
actly the same result, but by a different road.
The latter is rather the ofiEspring of the lyre ;
Poe was an eminent master in it, and by his
own confession pushed it to the confines of
sheer jargon to make words perform the func-
tions of pure music irrespective of the intellect-
ual idea. He was too great an artist quite to
pass the border, but in " Ulalume " he went to
the very verge. Tennyson has done the same
in " Claribel " and elsewhere ; Swinburne has
written reams of musical words without ideas ;
James Whitcomb Riley has tried it in " Flying
Islands of the Night."

The class I mean, in which the primary
thought is not so much the music as the color,
the pictorial suggestiveness, or the decorative
effect of the words, has for obvious reasons not
had nearly so many eminent masters as the
musical branch. Song is of all time and for all

ICX)

The Writer.

the world, and music is often meaning enough ;
while the other is of the few and for the day.
Keats, the first artificer, is still the greatest (do
not forget, however, that the parts of his work
which have really lived and are read are of the
other sort ) ; William Morris comes next, but he
is not an extreme instance. The mass of such
work is done by a vast shoal of small-fry,
ephemerides by the nature of their work, be-
cause there is nothing to please the mind or
the heart after the senses have had their fleet-
ing fillip.

One of the most perfect examples in modern
verse-writing lies before me. It is on a prospec-
tus of " The Bayadere, and Other Sonnets," by
the late Francis S. Saltus; a limited Edition de
luxe. The attempt since his death to " boom "
this unchoice spirit — who, with money, cultiva-
tion, travel, all the good gifts of fortune, snarled
at life and an unappreciative world till his early
and needless death — into a neglected and un-
dervalued genius, a sort of Burns, a "glory-and-
shame " of American letters, is one of the most
ludicrous episodes in literary history. It is
almost entirely the work of the bachelor club-
men of New York, who are numerous enough
to have a weekly organ ; a class as one-sided
and distorted in one direction in their views of
both life and literature as young girls are in the
other, and for just the same reason — exclusive
confinement to one part of life, and consequent
ignorance of the facts of the other. The one
class will not believe that physical passion has
any rights or needs to exist, the other believes
the universe exists only for it and in its mani-
festations. The latter's worship of Mr. Saltus
is inspired partly by his verse being directed
toward the nerves of sensation, but mainly —
for they do not as a body care more for poetry
or understand it better than the average of
other people, which is very little — by his hav-
ing put more disgustingly nasty and physically
revolting images into verse than any other
being who ever wrote in English. This is ac-
counted "virility," and "frankness," and "free-
dom from Philistinism," and " devotion to Art
as Art " ( I shall show in a moment how much
the art was worth ), and " emancipation from the
fetters of smug morality " ; and he is held to be
a £^reat man and a great poet for it, without

further examination. He was, in fact, merely an'
industrious verbal bricklayer,, of little artistic
variety beyond the ordinary mechanical manipu-
lations, no analytic power, and wholly guiltless
of an original idea; but with immense fecundity
of language, great width of reading, a good deal
of raw pictorial sense, and not a bad aim when
he wished to hit a sensory nerve. During his
lifetime I had his poems to select from, literally
by the hundred, — for he had the remorseless
facility of a sausage machine. They were all
labored brick-and-mortar verse, full of culture
and the entire contents of the paint-box, and so
exactly alike and so absolutely devoid of a
spark of fire or spontaneity that there was no
reason for accepting or rejecting any one that
would not hold good of the whole. Moreover,
they were put together with no real care for
syntax, coherence, consistency, or sense of any
kind : the chief consideration was that the
words should sound well by themselves, and
scan and rhyme ; and the flattest self-con-
tradictions, even in the same line, never ruffled
his complacent admiration for his work. I
could choose no better sample than the title-
sonnet printed on the circular, "The Baya-
dere " ; and I invite attention to it as showing
what the Howell Gibbonses, and even the Van
Bibbers, regard as great poetry, and more es-
pecially to show how not to write poetry if you
wish it to live.

(i) Near strange weird temples, where the Ganges' tide

(2) Bathes doomed Lahore, I watched, by spice-trees fanned,

(3) Her agile form in some quaint saraband,

(4) A marvel of passionate chastity and pride.

(5) Nude to the loins, superb and leopard-eyed,

(6) With fragrant roses in her jeweled hand,

(7) Before some Ka&t-drunk Rajah, mute and grand,

(8) Her flexile body bends, her white feet glide.

(9) The dull Kinoors throb one monotonous tune,

(10) And wail with zeal as in a hasheesh trance :

(i i) Her scintillant eyes in vague, ecstatic charm

(12) Bum like black stars below the Orient moon,

(13) While the suave, dreamy languor of the dance

(14) Lulls the grim, drowsy cobra on her arm.

( I. ) " Strange weird " is mere pleonasm and
padding. Anything weird is strange: weird
things are not part of common life.

( 2. ) Trees shade people, but don't fan them.
And who is it that is fanned — the writer or
the dancer? The clumsy syntax gives no clue.

( 3. ) Why " some " 1 A saraband is a sara-
band, as a minuet is a minuet. And how

The Writer.

lOI

"quaint"? The word cannot be twisted into
any meaning that will make sense of applying
it to a dance; and if there could be a quaint
dance, of all things on earth a dirty Oriental
dance is least entitled to the name.

(4.) This is probably the most nonsensical
line in the language. How in the world can
any woman be a marvel of chastity? She can't
more than be chaste ; most women are chaste,
and even nuns are too common to be a marvel.
And how a marvel of pride ? Pride over
nothing is the commonest of things. And if a
woman could be a marvel of chastity, and of
passionate chastity ( that is, resentful of the
least hint of defilement), and of passionate
chastity and pride^ one of the creatures to
whom it would be most absurd to apply it
would be a half-naked slave girl dancing an
indecent dance before a drunken Eastern
prince, of vvhom she would generally be a
concubine. Or perhaps it is not she, but her
agile form or the saraband that is a marvel as
stated : the syntax makes one reading as
grammatical as the other.

(5.) I do not believe Mr. Saltus ever saw
a leopard's eyes; he put this in because it
sounds well and rhymes.

( 6. ) " Fragrant roses " is padding. All roses
are at least conventionally supposed to be
fragrant.

( 7. ) Which is grand — the drunken rajah or
the dancer? Again the slovenly syntax gives
no clue, and in either case the epithet is mere
nonsense and rhyme-padding. A drunken
princeling is not grand, and a supple slave
doing a prurient dance for his pleasure is not
grand.

(8.) If her body was n't flexile, it could n't
bend. Padding again.

(10.) '' Wail with zeal " is a ludicrously in-
congruous image, recalling the mourners at an
Irish wake, or a castigated child with his fists
in his eyes, — not anything Oriental. I do not
happen to know what a kinoor is ; but presum-
ing it to be a musical instrument, how can it
eat hasheesh or go into a trance, and why
would it wail any more zealously if it did?
And if it is a man, men do not, I believe, wail
zealously when in a trance, hasheesh or any
other. And how can either of these throb

monotonously and wail zealously at the same
time? Throbbing and wailing, or zeal and mo-
notony, are not very compatible processes, and
are certainly not harmonious epithets.

(11.) How can anything scintillant be vague ?
What sort of a thing is a vague sparkle? And
of all things, what is a vague ecstasy? The
three adjectives swear at each other ; the author
evidently never cared what sort of an interne-
cine war they had when he once got them
together. And as "charm" is the effect the
eyes produce on beholders, what has "ec-
static," which is her own inner feeling, got to
do with it anyhow? It is like speaking of a
uraemic fascination or a choking benevolence
of visage ; and even if it had, how could it be
at once vague and ecstatic ?

(12.) I should like to see a black star or a
black fire. Also, I have heard of shining like a
star and of burning like several things, but
never of burning like a star, which is an image
without coherence or pertinence. And how in
the world can anything burn vaguely? That
unhappy adjective " vague " is pure vague stuff-
ing, and throws everything around it out of
gear, for it fits nowhere. And what does the
line mean to begin with? Are her eyes burn-
ing below the moon? We are not told that
this is a moonlight scene, and if it is, where
else could they burn, and what is the difference
between the Orient moon and other moons ?
Or are they burning "like stars [which are]
below the moon"? If so, why below rather
than above ? One is as accurate as the other.

(13.) "Suave" is a misuse of language in
this relation : it suggests at once a diplomat or
a shopkeeper, being used for tempers and
manners, not sensations. One never speaks of
the suave taste of a glass of smooth wine, or
the suave "feeling of dropping off to sleep, but
of a man of suave disposition or suave manners.
This clumsy heap of epithets is gross pad-
ding, and adds nothing to the effect.

(14.) If the snake is lulled, the natural
result is drowsiness — more padding; and
"grim" is not especially graphic of a snake,
and serves little purpose but that of metre.
Adjective for adjective, he could have found
much better ones than these.

And it is tU^?»^ \t^c<^xv<^\\\qkv.'=» \'^^\^<^\^V'^'^:^'3* ^:5s.

I02

The Writer.

gaudy paint-squareS) like a child's game with its
color-box, put together so inartistically that they
make violent discords as often as not, and ex-
hibiting no symmetry of design and no centrality
of purpose, that the American public is to
flagellate itself for neglecting, and to deify in
remorse. I think the sane and Philistine
public judged much better than the victims of
spiritual malnutrition, with unsatisfied sensuous
cravings and heads untrained to even such
elementary analysis as this; to whom such
cheap, crude, slovenly stringing together of
unsorted glitterments, like a savage hanging
colored beads around his neck, seems great
poetry and its author an unappreciated genius.
If this edition sells, there are evidently a good
many men with purses ampler than their in-
tellects, and mainly composed of nerves of
sensation — which is doubtless true.

I had meant to give an example from another
author, but space will not permit. What I
most wish to urge is, that for poet and prose
writer alike the condition of vitality is thought
and art fused in one, and the condition of
general acceptance, either before or after death,
is centrality. In other words, have a thought
first ; fix clearly in your mind what it is, second ;
express it in a form that makes it a pleasure to
retain, third. Don't wobble and wander and
put in meaningless words or phrases because

they sound prettily, and destroy the wholer
sense of your line for a rhyme, and stuff ia«
a pleonastic or inconsistent adjective for the-
metre. If this is too hard, if you have no-
thoughts strong enough to build on or clear
enough to express intelligibly, or not melody^
or color enough to please the ear or senses,,
or not metrical facility enough to avoid gross-
padding and forced rhymes, — keep still till
you have. And of all things, don't excuse
yourself, even to yourself, by saying that
Byron made this lapse of grammar, and Swin-
burne used this harsh and halting foot, and
Goldsmith padded his lines, and Shakespeare
is unintelligible in spots, and so on. When
Pope said,

" Go on, obliging creatures ! make me see
All that disgraced my betters met in me,"

he understood perfectly that a combination of
the faults of great artists did not make a new
great artist. They are accepted in spite of
certain inelegancies or flaws, because what
there is left is too good to lose. When you, too, .
have a flood of good things to offer, you can
(like Browning) defy criticism. Till then,
weed out laboriously every fault you can see.^
And always try to mean something, whether
you succeed or not.

Forrest Morgan,

Hartford, Conn.

THE KNOWN TO THE UNKNOWN.

Many a failure might be avoided by beginners
in literary work if they were careful to put into
actual practice the good words of advice given
by their elders in the field. Edward E. Hale
once wrote to a young writer in the West : —

"Write nothing unless you have something
to say. Write nothing unless you have reason
to think that you know more about the matter
than those you write for. Say nothing of your-
self unless it is absolutely necessary. Begin at
the beginning. Stop when you have done. Use
as short words as you can find, and as few as
wj}} answer y

That is a kernel full of meat for beginners —
for everybody.

Then among the many excellent things said'
and written by Dr. Oliver Wendell Holmes is
this, which every writer would do well to re-
member: —

" Make up your mind what you are going to
say — and then say it quick."

Do your thinking before you sit down to
write. Then there will be no need of spoiling
half a quire of paper before you can get the first
sentence to suit you. Think and think, until
your subject becomes clear^ then "say it

The Writer.

103

quick ! " To dilly-dally over an article is pretty
sure to invest it with a bunglesome, jerky style,
that " makes hard reading."

Lord Macaulay's three questions are worth
keeping in mind, when we decide to treat a sub-
ject : " What do people want to know about it ?
What do /know about it ? What shall I have
to learn ? "

Don't forget that the reading public is intel-
ligent and demands clear, helpful information,
be it in story, essay, or editorial. Dig deep for
bright thoughts and fresh ideas. Then, as
Louisa M. Alcott wrote me, shortly before her
death : —

** Hope and keep busy.'*

Star Valley, Kan. Ad* H, Gibson,

ONE USE OF THE COMMA.

There seem to be two rules regarding the
use of the comma between three or more
adjectives in procession, when the last two are
connected by a conjunction. For instance,
take the following sentence, punctuated in two
different ways: *'The charge was wild, fierce,
headlong and irresistible"; "The charge was
wild, fierce, headlong, and irresistible"; some
grammars give the first example as the correct
punctuation; others give the last. I will here
observe that the first style of punctuation is the
one generally used in newspaper offices; the
second will be found the most frequently in the
works of those who are regarded as good
authorities on the use of the English language.

Those grammars which omit one of the
commas give as a rule, that a comma is to be
inserted only where the conjunction has been
omitted. This seems to me to be a lame rule.
The function of the comma as a punctuation
mark is not so much to show us where a con-
junction has been omitted, as to aid us in
grasping the sense of a passage, and to show
the grammatical relation of words and phrases
to each other. But leaving out of consideration
any function which may be performed by the
comma in pointing out an omission, it seems to
me that the sense of expressions such as I have
given is materially affected by the style of
punctuation adopted.

If we read: "The charge was wild, fierce,
headlong and irresistible," in our comprehen-

sion of the sentence we naturally connect the
two words joined by the conjunction more
closely than we do the two which are set off by
commas. The impression given is erroneous ;
for, in reality, each adjective is equal in value
with its fellows, and each has the same force,
and is no more closely connected with one of
the series than with another. It requires an
effort of the mind to separate the words prop-
erly and give to each its true individual force.

If we write the sentence: "The charge was
wild, fierce, headlong, and irresistible," the uni-
formity of punctuation corresponds to the equal
prominence which should be given to the words
in our minds, and no effort is required and no
rule need be remembered to give to each word
its proper degree of distinctness.

The office of the conjunction is to connect ;
of the comma, to divide. If we do not separate
by the comma the two words between which
the conjunction is placed, we are liable, as we
glance along the line, to give to the last two
combined no more force than we do each one
of the first two, and thus lose just one-fourth of
the strength of the expression.

This is a case where authorities disagree.
However, the second style of punctuation has
the weight of best usage in its favor, as well as
a logical reason for its adoption. The first style
has nothing to recommend it but an arbitrary
rule of two or three grammarians.
Sbattlb, Wash. E. ZLincoCn KtUo?^..

104

The Writer.

Pabliahed monthly by The Writer Publishing Company, 282
Washington street, Rooms q and 10, Boston, Mass.

WILLIAM H. HILLS. . . . Editor.

%*Thb Writer is published the first day of every month.
It will be sent, post-paid, One Year for One Dollar.

*«* All drafts and money orders should be made payable to
The Writer Publishing Co. Stamps, or local checks, should
not be sent in payment for subscriptions.

•♦•The Writer will be sent only to those who have paid for
it in advance. Accounts cannot be opened for subscriptions,
and names will not be entered on the list unless the subscription
order is accompanied by a remittance. When subscriptions ex-
pire the names of subscribers will be taken off the list unless an
order for renewal, accompanied by remittance, is received. Due
notice will be given to every subscriber of the expiration of his
subscription.

%* No sample copies of The Writer will be sent free.

•^^ Everything that may be printed in the magazine will be
written expressly for it.

•«• Not one line of paid advertisement will be printed in The
Writer outside of the advertising pages.

•«• Advertising rates will be sent on request.

•«• Contributions not used will be returned, if a stamped and
addressed envelope is enclosed.

THE WRITER PUBLISHING CO.,

282 Washington street ( Rooms 9 and 10),

P. O. Box 1905. Boston, Mass.

Vol. VII.

July, 1894.

No. 7.

1,000 words.

When all writers realize that book publishing
is a business, and not a .sentimental occupation,
it will be easier for some of them to understand
why even a well-written manuscript often seeks
a publisher in vain. Ordinary merit is not what
a publisher desires. Something unusual is
fKAst he IS aher; for the reading public likes

novelties, and it pays to publish what the read-
ing public likes. As a contributor to The
Writer well says : " A merely well-written
story, with a nice little plot and a happy end-
ing, is not marketable. Thousands of such
stories are returned to their authors, not be-
cause they are lacking in a literary way, but
because they are not up to the standard from a
commercial point of view." It costs a pub-
lisher three or four hundred dollars at least to
bring out an ordinary book, including the cost
of professional reading, typesetting, plates,
paper, presswork, binding, advertising, and
postage, and if the book falls flat, while the
author suffers only his disappointment, the pub-
lisher suffers pecuniary loss. Publishers are
naturally slow to take such risks. Every manu-
script that they reject is a source of actual ex-
pense to them. The reading of a book manu-
script is no trifling task. Few expert profes-
sional Readers would like to undertake to read
through more than one such manuscript a day,
and the time of professional Readers cannot be
cheaply bought. Publishers are compelled to
employ Readers as one of the first necessities
of their business, and the Readers have to be
paid for reading the manuscripts which they
reject, as well as for reading those which they
decide are good. Instead of complaining, then,
because his rejected manuscript has not been
read all through, the author should remember
that the publisher to whom he sent it has not
been paid for the time which he and his Reader
have devoted to it — excepting in so far as the
profits from the books of successful authors
pay the losses on the manuscripts of the unsuc-
cessful ones.

* *

Literary history records the example of the
man who always kept paper, and pencil, and
matches, and a candle by his bedside, so that
he might be able to record any bright idea that
should come to him in the still watches of the
night. The only danger in his case was that
while he was fumbling around in the dark for
matches to light the candle with, his bright idea
might evaporate, so that when the candle flared,
he might have nothing to record. Modern
science has made an improvement possible, in
some cases, by the use of the electric light, which

The Writer.

105

can be made toflash by pressing or twisting a but-
ton, giving the bright idea no time to disappear.
Even a more convenient means of accomplish-
ing the desired object is available, however, in
the shape of the phonograph. One busy writer
says that he often puts into his phonograph
-cylinders in an evening 4,000 or 5,000 words to
be transcribed by his typewriter next day. He
keeps a phonograph at his home, and the little
case which he brings in town in the morning is
sure to contain a large quantity of matter ready to
be copied and turned over to the printer. The
phonograph works as well in the dark as in the
light, so that the author who wants to '* book **
his casual midnight thoughts needs only to keep
one by his bedside and talk into it as into the
ear of a long-suffering confidential friend. It
beats the match and candle and paper and
pencil scheme clear out of sight.

One of the best examples of good newspaper
■ copy-editing which ever came to the attention
of the editor of The Writer lies on his desk
as he writes this paragraph. It is in the form
oi two sheets of postal telegraph copy, a de-
spatch from Brockton, Mass., to the Bos/on
Globe^ skilfully blue-pencilled by the Globe's
night editor. The original despatch and the
remnant of it that was printed in the Globe are
worth quoting in full, to show what happens to
a newspaper correspondent's copy received by
telegraph at 12.45 i" ^^^ morning, when the
paper is crowded, and everything has to be
"cut to the bones and the bones scraped after-
ward," as the newspaper night editor's saying
is. At first sight the two sheets of copy seem
to contain nothing but barred-gates of dark
blue-pencil lines. Underneath them and be-
tween them can be read the typewritten de-
spatch as the Globe's telegraph operator took it
from his clicking instrument. It ran as fol-
lows : —

BROCKTOX, June i — Both branches of the city council
held meetins^s to-night, and then they came together in a com-
mittee of conference to discuss street lights and schoolhouses.
The aldermen passed an order requiring the street railway
company to replace the rails taken up in Main and MontcUo
streets for the purpose of laying the sewers with girder rails.
A request that Saulsbury Lake be kept full this summer was
referred to the committee on sewerage, with power to act. In
4he conference committee the committee on street lights pre-
: sented two propositions to be made to the Edison company for

lighting contracts. It was unanimously voled that it was the
opinion of those present that an offer be made to the company
of not exceeding ninety dollars a year for a twelve hundred-
candle-power arc light, and fourteen dollars for a sixteen -candle-
power incandescent light on a five-year contract. It was
stated that the cost to the company for changes required by in-
troducing twelve-hundred-candle-power lights would not exceed
seven thousand five hundred dollars. Then followed a long
talk about schoolhouses, and plans were shown, after which
the committee adjourned, without taking any action whatever.
In the meeting of the committee of the whole on city hall
which followed, the sub-committee reported that it would cost
the city $7,574.34 per year to accept the offer of the Edison
company for heating and lightmg the city hall, while by putting
in an independent plant at a cost of about nine thousand dollars,
the cost of heating and lighting would be reduced $3,323.34
per year.

The committee recommended that the city put in two en-
gines, two dynamos, and a pump. The report was accepted
and the recommendation was adopted. The committee rec-
ommended the purchase of ideal engine and general electric
dynamos for $6,81 1. An attempt to table failed, and by a vote
of 32 to 3 the contract was voted.

The sub-committee was instructed to secure bids for pump-
ing machinery for the elevator water.

Here is the same " special " as it was printed
in the Globe^ June 2 : —

Bynames for Brockton City Hall.

BROCKTON, June i — Both branches of the city council
met to-night. In the conference committee it was unani-
mously voted to offer the Edison company a sum not exceed-
ing $90 a year for a 1,200-candle-power arc light, and $14 for a
sixteen-candle-power incandescent light on a five-year contract-
In the meeting of the committee of the whole on city hall it was
voted to accept the sub-committee report, that the city purchase
an engine and electric dynamos for a plant to light city hall.

The night editor who made the change did it
by writing in blue pencil a headline, marked
with the composing-room number of the type in
which it must be set; writing a line underneath
giving the name of the correspondent and the
hour at which his despatch was received ; mark-
ing out the words and sentences to be omitted,
and writing in just twenty-three words to con-
nect the remaining parts and make the sense
complete. As the reader will see, every impor-
tant fact in the original despatch is included in
the printed " special," only details and notes of
unimportant business, for which a crowded
metropolitan daily has no room, having been
cut out by the editor. Perfect justice was done
to the correspondent, and in view of the fact
that this piece of editing was done without
special care, in the ordinary course of a busy
night's work, the editor who did it — and who
will be surprised when he sees this in The
Writer — has good reason to feel satisfied

io6

THE WRITER.

with his accomplishment. The original de-
spatch and the printed "special" together give
a useful practical lesson in the art of skilful
condensation.

Somebody has been counting the number of
characters introduced in several novels, more
or less well-known, with rather interesting re-
sults. In making up the lists only those char-
acters have been included who join in the
action, no record having been made of charac-
ters who are merely mentioned in conversation,
and who take no part in helping on the story.
Of characters thus defined, Besant's '* All Sorts
and Conditions of Men" has 23; Trollope's
*' Barchester Towers " has 33 ; Lytton's " Night
and Morning," 42; Scott's "Heart of Mid-
lothian, 49; George Eliot's" Middlemarch," 59;
Disraeli's "Tancred," 59; Thackeray's "Vanity
Fair," 66 ; and Dickens' " David Copperfield,"
loi. Think of imagining and describing loi
characters in a single novel, making most of
them as distinct and clear as any living person-
age known to the reader, as Dickens did !
Before the young author undertakes to write
out his first long novel he would find it good
practice to try independent character sketching
for a while, experimenting to see how many
distinct characters he can picture to himself,
and how varied he can make his descriptions of

them. w. H. H.

♦

SHALL WRITERS ADVERTISE.?

The following advertisement I clipped from a
Boston daily paper : —

BUSINESS OPPORTUNITIES.

T AM NO SHAKESPEARE, BUT HAVE WRITTEN

* a three-act farce-comedy that, if well acted, the whole world
might laugh over. Its action is unique. Will sell copyright or
grant right to produce it. F. W. OSBORNE, Brockton, Mass.

This raised the question in my mind whether
or not the writer who had tried a promiscuous
mailing of his matter to "probable customers "
might not find advertising of more avail. Why
should not manuscripts be offered for sale
through a medium like The Writer ? If this
were the general custom, editors and publishers
would find their wants anticipated and a list of
matter presented for their selection in the liter-
ary ** class " papers. At all events, such an
advertisement as that I have quoted would find

a more appreciative audience in the readers ol:
this magazine than it would in any daily paper.

aif/on S. Wady,

SOMBRVILLB, MaSS.

THE SCRAP BASKET.

Some young writers — and some old ones-,
too, for that matter — may get a useful hint
about the use of metaphor by reading an edi-
torial note, recently published in the Interior^.
of Chicago. The Interior says: "We wish
the Signal would not employ martial rhetoric,
like this : * Mrs. Dunham, the state president,
has organized her loyal lieutenants and faithfuL
following into a brave brigade, which is charg-
ing the legislative heights with the home pro-
tection guns.' People do not charge with guns,
which in military parlance means cannon; but
with bayonets and cavalry sabres. Women
cannot charge anyway. They are not built for
the double-quick rush ; and as for cavalry, hav-
ing only a stirrup on one side, they are at a
disadvantage. They cannot yell, which is
always necessary in a bayonet or cavalry
charge. If they were to try to yell, they would
only scream. Here is the correct way to write
it: *Mrs. Dunham has organized her gentle
and lovely torch-bearers in a white-robed pro-
cession, to carry the light of the home into the
gloomy caverns of legislative ignorance and
political darkness.*" Such misuse of meta-
phor reminds one of the historic eloquent sen
tence from the sermon of a young and zealous
minister: "Here stands Mother Church —
one foot firmly planted on the earth, the other
pointed toward Heaven ! " A. b.

Chicago, 111.

THE USE AND MISUSE OF WORDS.

Some writers say that " I feel bad," and
not *' I feel badly," is the proper phrase.
Adams Sherman Hill in his '* Foundations
of Rhetoric " gives the preference to *' I
feel badly," his reason being that "bad" is
ambiguous, "bad" being in use in two senses.
(As a matter of fact "feel" is ambiguous,
too, "feel" being in use in two senses also.)
Professor Hill says : " As a rule, it is proper
to use an adjective whenever some form of
* to be * or * to seem ' may be substituted for the

The Writer.

107

verb, an adverb when no such substitution can
be made." He gives as example : " An old
shoe feels easy " ; " Miss Amy looked pretty."

H. M. S.
Chicago, III.

NEWSPAPER ENGLISH EDITED.

On Saturday afternoon Asa
C. Harvey, of Meacham
street, was given a farewell
dinner at Young's hotel by
over a hundred of his railroad
friends, and was the recipient
of several valuable presents.
— Boston reporter's copy.

A farewell dinner was given
to Asa C. Harvev, of
Meacham street, at Young's
hotel Saturday afternoon by
more than a hundred of his
railroad friends, who gave
him also several valuable
presents.

Possessed with a fully
equipped machine shop, and
workmen who understand
their business, our second-
hand presses, cutters, and
other machinery receive a
thorough overhauling and
rebuilding before they are
offered for sale. — The Proof
Sheet.

Possessing a fully equipp>ed
machine shop and employing
workmen who understand
their business, we give our
second-hand presses, cutters,
and other machinery a thor-
ough overhauling and rebuild-
ing before offering them for
sale.

BOOK REVIEWS.

A guide to the art of composi-
Philadelphia : J. B. Lippin-

Thk Writer's Hand-Book.
tion. 573 pp. Cloth, $2.50.
cott Company. 1888.

*' The Writer's Handbook " is really made up
of three books, separately paged: Part I. dis-
cusses '* Composition and Style," and after an
introduction on authorship, speaks of purity of
style, with illustrative examples; propriety of
style ; precision of style ; synonymous words ;
the structure of sentences; figurative language;
personification; apostrophe; hyperbole; com-
parison ; metaphor ; allegory ; concise and
diffuse style ; nervous and feeble style ; vehe-
ment style; plain style; neat style; graceful
style; florid style; the simple and the affected
style ; the attainment of a good style, etc.
Appended to this division is a section relating
to printing and publishing; manuscripts and
their preparation ; the relations of author and
publisher; proof correcting; the size of paper;
the size of type; stereotyping: binding, etc.
Part II. discusses "English Composition," with
remarks on the laws of writing; the writer's
vocabulary ; taking pains in writing ; the forma-
tion of style : the study of models ; English or
Latin; simplicity in style; brevity in style;
purity in style : energy in style ; parts of
speech; punctuation; paraphrase; hints for
essayists: controversy, etc. Part III. discusses
*• Letter-writing," with an introductory essay on
letters and letter-writers ; hints on letter-writing ;
composition and the structure of sentences ;
punctuation; a dictionary of blunders and
blemishes; rules for dividing words into sylla-

bles, and for the use of prepositions in connec-^
tion with particular words ; a list of homonymes,-
and of verbs and their participles ; a table o£
mispronounced words, etc. w. H. H.

The Victorian Age of English Literature. By
Mrs. Oliphant. 647 pp. Cloth, I2.00. New YorkL
Lovell, Coryell, & Co. 1892.

Beginning with a chapter on the state of
literature in England at the time of Queen
Victoria's accession to the throne, Mrs. Oli-
phant's book reviews the literary history of the
last sixty years, bringing her work down so
near to the present time as to include mention
of J. M. Barrie and Rudyard Kipling. While
the work is subject to all the limitations by
which an author writing of cpntemporary writers-
necessarily is hampered, it is yet, on the whole,
a useful and interesting one, and gives a reason-
ably fair account of modern English writers..
Mrs. Oliphant's mention of her own name is
worth quoting. " We can do no more than
mention here the name of Mrs. Oliphant," she
says in the proper place, "for reasons which
the reader will easily understand. It would be
false modesty to leave it out of a record of the
novelists of the Victorian age." William Black
gets only a dozen lines of mention ; in fact, the
description of the writers of the present day is
hardly more than a catalogue of names, and,
altogether, Mrs. Oliphant's work, though use-
ful, is suggestive rather than satisfying. It
points out what some one else might do. This
edition of the work is a popular one, issued at a
lower price than that of the previous edition.

w. H. H.

American Newspaper Directory. Containing a description
of all the newspapers and periodicals published in the United
States, Canada, and Newfoundland, and of the towns and
cities in which they are published. Twenty-sixth year. 1,123
pp. Cloth, #5.00. New York: Geo. P. Rowell & Co.
1894.

Rowell's "American Newspaper Directory,"
published annually in May, is the standard
work of its kind. The plan of collecting the
material for it is elaborate and systematic, and
the publishers certainly do not spare pains or
expense to make the work accurate and com-
plete. So far as possible, the " directory " for
1894, just issued, is a complete list of American
periodicals now published, arranged alphabeti-
cally by states, and under states by cities and
towns, and giving, besides the name of each
periodical, its office address, its day of publica-
tion, its size, its specialty, its subscription
price, its date of establishment, the names of
its editor and its publisher, and some statistics
of the place in which it is published, and an
estimate of the size of its circulation. Follow-
ing the detailed descriptions of the 20,169'
publications included in the directory comes a
condensed alphabetical list covering the same
ground, and showing ^.t -a^ '^•^-w:.^ S^^ -^•j^xsnr.^ ^

1 08

The Writer.

all the periodicals issued in any given town or
city, with an estimate of the circulation of each.
After this again comes a list of the periodicals
having a circulation of more than 5,000 copies
for each issue, and finally there is a classified
list of periodicals devoted to special trades and
interests, in which, for instance, all the periodi-
cals devoted to agriculture, or to dentistry, or
to education, or to household matters, or to
literature, are put together by tiiemselves. The
directory is issued primarily for advertisers,
but it is exceedingly useful to all contributors
for the press as well, since it gives the address
of every periodical in the country, and, as far as
any publication of the kind can be, it is up to
date. w. H. H.

Romantic Professions, and Other Papers. By W. P.
James. 225 pp. Cloth, $2.00 New York: Macmillan &
Co. 1894.

The essays included in this volume are en-
titled : " Romantic Professions," " The Nemesis
of Sentimentalism," " Romance and Youth,"
** On the Naming of Novels," "Names in
Novels," "The Poet as Historian," "The
Great Work," and "The Historical Novel."
They are reprints, with revision, of papers
which appeared originally in Blackwood's
Magazine and Macmillan's Magazine^ and
they are well worth preserving in book form.
Mr. James writes cleverly, and what he has to
say is the result both of wide reading and of
intelligent independent thought. The essays
•on "The Naming of Novels," "Names in
Novbls," and " The Historical Novel " are par-
ticularly entertaining and instructive.

w. H. H.

Kathakine Lauderdale. Hy F. Marion Crawford. With
illustrations by Alfred lirennan. Two vols. 668 pp.
Cloth, J2.00. New York : Macmillan & Co. 1804.

There may be people who are losing sight of
the fact that, both because of the number and
of the importance of his works, Francis Marion
Crawford is taking, or has already taken, the
second place among living American novelists,
granting that the first place is still occupied by
Mr. Howells. " Katharine Lauderdale" is Mr.
Crawford's twenty-third book, and from the
announcement that it is the first of a trilogy,
and from the other information vouchsafed re-
garding Mr. Crawford's plans, it is evident that
in his own view he is only at the beginning of
his energetic literary career. The marvellous
fecundity of the man and his indefatigable in-
dustry, which have in a few years piled up such
a mass of creditable literary work, naturally
have a tendency to make his style prolix. It is
for that reason that " Katharine Lauderdale,"
-covering the events of only five days, extends
into two volumes, and that two other books —
each possibly of two volumes also— may be re-
-quired to conjplete the story which Mr. Craw-

ford has started out to tell. This is a busy age,
and the multitude of books is increasing rather
than diminishing, as time goes on. If, there-
fore, Mr. Crawford wants to get all the atten-
tion that his works deserve, there is need for
him to study the art of close narration. " Katha-
rine Lauderdale," for instance, good as it is,
would be twice as good if it were rewritten by
the author in two-thirds its present bulk.

As Mr. Crawford has changed his residence
from Italy to New York, it is pleasant to see
him leaving the Saracinescas and Monte-
varchis, and giving us an American story, with
American characters and American material.
The plot of " Katharine Lauderdale " is an
attractive and interesting one, and the charac-
ters are distinctly and vividly portrayed. It is
only a pity that Mr. Crawford, who can tell a
story so particularly well, should not keep to
his story-telling steadily, and leave essaying for
another time. His tendency to overburden his
stories with analyses, repetitions, dissertations,
and other more or less interesting delays is one
that he needs to strive against, both for his own
sake and for the sake of the steadily increasing
host of his admirers. > w. h. h.

Adventures op Sherlock Holmks. By A. Conan Doyle.
307 pp. Cloth, ;? 1. 50. New York: Harper & Bros. 1892.

Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes. By A. Conan Doyle. 259
pp. Cloth, 51.50. New York: Harper & Bros. 1894.

The young writer of the present day can get
benefit from a careful study of Dr. Doyle's
stories of the adventures of Sherlock Holmes,
for they are models in their way. Not only is
Dr. Doyle's English generally good, but he tells
his stories in a swift, compact, nervous fashion,
that holds the reader with uninterrupted in-
terest till the end is reached. The main out-
lines of the story are kept clearly before the
reader's mind, and details are subordinated in
such a way that they help on, rather than ob-
scure, the development of the plot. Dr. Doyle
never digresses. He begins to tell his story in
the first page, and he never forgets the story he
is telling, or allows himself to be turned aside
in the telling of it by the attractiveness of de-
tails on which there may be a temptation to en-
large. Constant movement characterizes every
story in these two interesting books. Dr.
Doyle, in short, is a master of the art of closely-
condensed narration, and while his pictures of
characters, scenes, and exciting events are
clear and vivid, he makes them so with sur-
prisingly few words.

As a result, we have two volumes of fascinat-
ing detective stories of the best and highest
class. To the ordinary reader they are attrac-
tive because of tlie inherent interest of their
chief character and of the varied stories that
they tell. For the writer they have an added
value, since they serve as models of good short
stories, illustrating in the best possible way

The Writer.

109;

the clearness in conception, the singleness of
purpose, the swiftness of narration, the concise
portrayal of character, and the skill in the ex-
clusion of unnecessary details, which are the
prime requisites of success in short-story
writing. w. h. h.

Thb War of Indbpsndbncb. By John Fiske. 200 pp.
Linen, 40 cents. Boston: Houghton, Mifflin, & Co. 1S94.

This reprint in the Riverside Literature
Series of Mr. Fiske's story of the Revolution,
prepared originally for the Riverside Library
tor Young People, will bring an admirable book
to the attention of many more readers than it
has ever reached before. It is not alone a
brief account of the War for Independence
written by a thoroughly competent historian : it
discusses the underlying causes of the war, its
origin, and its conduct, and so gives a fairer
idea of the great struggle for liberty than any
of the old-fashioned text-books. A biographi-
cal sketch of Mr. Fiske is included in the book,
which has also some good maps, an index, and
a chapter of suggestions for collateral reading.

w. H. H.

My Paris Notb-book. By the author of " An Englishman
in Paris." 307 pp. Cloth, ^1.25. Philadelphia: J. B. Lip-
pincott Co. 1894.

The interest aroused by the publication of
"An Englishman in Paris is r-evived by the
appearance of this second volume of " personal
reminiscences " by the same author, who is
now generally understood to be Albert D.
Vandam, an English journalist of Dutch birth
and a resident of Paris. This new volume, the
author says, is made up from the note- books of
his two uncles, who lived most of their lives in
Paris, and who enjoyed the friendship of Louis
Napoleon, to whom they once did a favor. The
anecdotes in the book are supposed to have
come from them, and are certainly new to the
public. The value of such anecdotes, however,
depends on their authenticity, and after the
public's experience with "An Englishman in
Paris," Mr. Vandam's new stories, clever as
they are, are not likely to be taken without
salt, — which, when it comes to historical mat-
ters, does not ordinarily improve the flavor.

w. H. H.

The Umbrblla Mbndbr. By Beatrice Harraden. And
other stories. 159 pp. Paper, 25 cents. New York: J. S.
Ogilvie Publishing Company. 1894.

This paper-covered volume would not deserve
any special notice were it not for the fact that
the publisher has tried to play a sharp trick
upon the reading public. The cover bears only
the title, "The Umbrella Mender," by Beatrice
Harraden, making no mention of any "other
stories." The title page has in small type the
line, "And other sioxits,'''' following M\ss Har-
raden's name, and separated from it by a period.
" The Umbrella Mender " is the only story by

Miss Harraden included in the book, but the
casual purchaser would be likely to think, first
that "The Umbrella Mender "filled the whole
book, and afterward that the other short stories
which follow it were written by Miss Harraden.
There ought to be some way of preventing such
imposition, both on an author and on the reading
public. w. H. H.

Good Stylb. Small Expbnsb; or, Wb'll Nbvbr Go
Thbrb Any Morb. By Ben Holt. 197 pp. Paper, 50
cents. New York: Baker & Taylor Company. 1894.

In the same breezy, unconventional style in
which he told " How I Discovered Europe,"
" Ben Holt " has recorded in this well-printed
volume his impressions of the Chicago World's
Fair. His trade agents have disfigured the
copy of the book sent to The Writer by past-
ing an address label on the fly-leaf — something
that no publisher should ever allow any of his
clerks to do. w. h. h.

Thb Unknown Lifb of Christ. By the discoverer of the
manuscript, Nicholas Notovitch. Translated from the
French by Alexina Lorenger. igr pp. Paper, 25 cents.
Chicago: Rand, McNally, & Co. 1894.

In addition to a translation of the manuscript
life of Christ which Nicholas Notovitch says he
discovered in Thibet, guarded in a Buddhist
monastery and unknown to Christians, this
volume contains an account by the discoverer
of the privations and perils encountered in his
search for the manuscript, and a critical analy-
sis of its contents. w. h. h.

Thb Friendship of Naturb. By Mabel Osgood Wright.
238 pp. Cloth, 75 cents. New York: Macmillan & Co.
1894.

"The Friendship of Nature" is, to quote
the title page, "a New England chronicle of
birds and flowers." Its chapter headings in-
clude "A New England May-dav," "When
Orchards Bloom," "A Song 01 Summer,"
" Feathered Philosophers," " Nature's Calm,"
"A Winter Mood," etc. The author is evi-
dently an ardent lover — more than a friend —
of Nature, and her essays will attract all who
love the great world out of doors. w. h. h.

Ardis Clavbrdbn. B;^ Frank R. Stockton. 49^3 pp. Cloth,
$1.50. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons. 1894.

" Ardis Claverden " is now added to the
Scribners' uniform edition of Stockton's works,
previous editions of the story having been copy-
righted in 1889 by P. F. Collier, and in 1890 by
Dodd, Mead, & Co. Miss Ardis Claverden,
the heroine of the story, is a very charming
girl, and her relations with the various lovers
who yield to her attractiveness give Mr. Stock-
ton's peculiar humor ample opportunity for play.
Dr. Lester is a very distinct and winning per-
sonality, and Roger Dunworth, although rather
more of a hot-headed simpleton than a man
really ought to be, is in some respects a good
foil for the heroine, whose love he wias, TV>fc.

110

The Writer.

:story gives some charming pictures of Virginia
life and characters. It is told in the simple,
graceful, easy style of which Mr. Stockton is a
master, with hardly a periodic sentence in the
whole 500 pages. An odd misprint is to be
noted on page 211, where Mr. Chiverly, the
artist, — who always wore a silk hat in his
^studio the rest of the day whenever he had sold
jsi picture, — is described as sitting in the breezy
•coolness and painting landscapes '^from old
sketches and farm memory." In a certain way,
■**farm memory" makes sense, no doubt, but
" from memory " was probably what Mr. Stock-
ton said. w. H. H.

327 pp.

.A Flower op France. By Marah Ellis Ryan.
Cloth. Chicago : Rand, McNally, & Co. 1894.

In '* A Flower of France " Mrs. Ryan has
written a story unlike her other works, chroni-
cling the doings of certain New Orleans
colonists during the time of the Spanish occu-
pation. The story is an interesting one, and
will increase the reputation of the author.

w. H. H.

BOOKS RECEIVED.

[AH books sent to the editor of The Writer will be ac-
'knowledged under this heading. They will receive such further
notice as may be warranted by their importance to readers of
the magazine.]

His Vanished Star. By Charles Egbert Craddock. 394 pp.
Cloth, $1.25. Boston: Houghton, Mifflin, & Co. 1894.

My Summer in a Mormon Village. By Florence A.
Merriam. 171 pp. Cloth, $1.00. Boston: Houghton,
Mifflin, & Co. 1894.

The White Crown, and Other Stories. By Herbert D.
Ward. 336 pp. Cloth, $1.25. Boston: Houghton, Mifflin,
& Co. 1894.

Old English Ballads. Selected and edited by Francis B.
Gummere. 380 pp. Cloth, $1.05. Boston: Ginn & Co.
1894.

Public Libraries in America. By William I. Fletcher.
Illustrated. 169 pp. Cloth, $1.00. Boston: Roberts Bros.
1894.

Fra Paolo Sarpi. By Rev. Alexander Robertson. 196 pp.
Cloth, $1.50. New York : Thomas Whittaker. 1894.

Tennyson: His Art and Relation to Modern Life.
By Stopford A. Brooke. 516 pp. Cloth, $2.00. New York:
G. P. Putnam's Sons. 1894.

The Story of Margr^del. By David Storrar Meldrum.
269 pp. Paper, 50 cents. Copyright American Edition.
New York : G. P. Putnam's Sons. 1894.

A Practical Treatise on Nervous Exhaustion. By
George M. Beard, A. M., M. D. 262 pp. Cloth, I2.75.
New York : E. B. Treat. 1894.

Outlines of Practical Hygiene. By C. Oilman Currier,
M. D. 468 pp. Cloth, $2.75. New York: E. B. Treat.
1894.

The Flower of Forgiveness. By Flora Annie Steel. 355
pp. Cloth, $1.00. New York: Macmillan & Co. 1894.

Marcella. By Mrs. Humphry Ward. Two vols. 945
pp. Cloth, $2.00. New York : Macmillan & Co. 1894.

BoN-MoTS OF Samuel Foote and Theodore Hook.
Edited by Walter Jcrrold, with grotesques by Aubrey Beards-
ley. 192 pp. Cloth, 75 cents. New York : Macmillan &
Co. 1894.

The Novel. What It Is. By F. Marion Crawford. With
portrait. 108 pp. Cloth, 75 cents. New York : Mac-
millan & Co. 1893.

Teutonic Switzerland. By W. D. McCrackan, M. A. 315
pp. Cloth, 75 cents. Boston : Joseph Knight Co. 1894.

Romance Switzerland. By W. D. McCrackan, M. A. 270
pp. Cloth, 75 cents. Boston : Joseph Knight Co. 1894.

Second Series of the Major in Washington City. 251
pp. Paper, 25 cents. Chicago : F. T. Neely. 1894.

'* In the Quarter." By Robert W. Chambers. 314 pp.
Paper, 50 cents. Chicago : h'. T. Neely. 1894.

The Princess of Alaska. By Richard Henry Savage. 420
pp. Paper, 5c cents. Chicago : F. T. Neely. 1894.

The Two-Leggbd Wolf. By N. N. Karazin. Illustrated.
Translated from the Russian by Boris Lanin. 322 pp.
Cloth, $[.00 ; paper, 50 cents. Chicago : Rand, McNally, &
Co. 1894.

Against Odds. By Lawrence L. Lynch. 272 pp. Paper,
25 cents. Chicago : Rand, McNally, & Co. 1894.

Observations of a Traveller. By Louis Lombard. 208
pp. Paper, 50 cents. Utica, N. Y. : Louis Lombard. 1894.

Observations of a Musician. By Louis Lombard. Second
edition, augmented. 169 pp. Paper. Utica, N. Y. : Louis
Lombard. 1894.

Moody's New Sermons. By D. L. Moody. 161 pp. Paper,
25 cents. New York: J. S. Ogilvie Publishing Company.
1894.

Moody's Latest Sermons. By D, L. Moody. 156 pp.
Paper, 25 cents. New York : J. S. Ogilvie Publishing Com-
pany. 1894.

Slav and Moslem. By J. Milliken Napier Brodhead. 301
pp. Cloth. Aiken, S. C. : Aiken Publishing Co. 1894.

Sebastian. A dramatic poem. 93 pp. Cloth. Buffalo, N.
Y. : Charles Wells Moulton. 1894.

HELPFUL HINTS AND SUGGESTIONS.

How to Read. — In these days of much
reading and little thinking, Macaulay's sug-
gestions about reading with a purpose are
worth reprinting and remembering. Macaulay
says : *' When a boy I began to read very
earnestly, but at the foot of every page which I
read I stopped and obliged myself to give an
account of what I had read on that page. At
first I had to read it three or four times before
I got my mind firmly fixed ; but I compelled
myself to comply with the plan until now, after
I have read it through once, I can almost recite
it from beginning to end. It is a very simple
habit to form in early life, and it is valuable as
a means of making our reading serve the best
purpose." A. T. w.

Detroit, Mich.

♦

LITERARY ARTICLES IN PERIODICALS

The Writer.

Ill

^periodical must be ordered from the publication office. Readers
-who send to the publishers of the periodicals indexed for copies
^ containing the articles mentioned in the list will confer a favor
' if they will mention Thb Writer when they write.]

My First Visit to New England.— III. William Dean
Howells. Harper's Magaxiru ( 38 c.) for July.

Talks with Young Writers. Lippincott'' s Magazine
•(28c.) for July.

The Founder op the Popular Science Monthly

• ( Edward L. Youmans). Popular Science Monthly ( 53 c. ) for
July.

I. Zancwill. With portrait. G. B. Burgin. Harper's
Weekly ( 13 c. ) for June 2.
Propessor Henry Drisler. With portrait. Henry Thur-

- iton Peck. Harper^ s Weekly ( 13 c. ) for June 9.

Paul du Chaillu. Portrait. Leslie's Weekly ( 13 c ) for
May 31.
Walter Scott, the Boy. Andrew Lang. YotUfCs

- Companion (8c.) for May 1 7.

Emerson's Meeting with De Quincey. " P. L." Re-
. printed from Blackwood's Magazine in Eclectic ( 48 c. ) for
June.

Quotation. Reprinted from Temple Bar in Eclectic
( 48 c. ) for June.

Tom Hood. S. Parks Cadman. Godey*s Magazine {zi c. )
for June.

Vertical vs. Slope Writing. Boston Herald lot June 20.

A Poet Astronomer (Camille Flammarion). F. L. De
Lautreppe. Cosmopolitan ( 18 c. ) for June.

The Modern German Drama and Its Authors. F.
Spielhagen. Cosmopolitan ( 18 c. ) for June.

Copying Engravings by Contact. Phcio- American
( 13 c. ) for June.

A Pioneer Poet (Benjamin Hathaway). With portrait.
Helen E. Starrett. Arena (53 c. ) for June.

Social Ideals op Victor Hugo. With frontispiece por-
' trait. B. O. Flower. Arena (53 c. ) for June.

Edmund Hodgson Yates. With portrait. Chicago
Graphic ( 13 c. ) for June 2.

Lewis Morris. With portrait. Chicago Graphic ( 13 c. )
for May 26.

Harriet Bbecher Stowb. With portraits. Chicago
Graphic (13 c.) for June 16.

The Late J. G. Romanes. L. Dyer. A^a/i^^ic (13 c. )for
June 7.

William Dwight Whitney. The Nation (13 c. ) for
June 14.

The Nation's New Library at Washington. Albert
Shaw. With portrait of A. R. Spofford and other illustrations.
Review 0/ Reviews ( 28 c. ) for June.

Some Notable Hymn Writers. Alpha G. Kynett. Peter-
son's ( 13 c. ) for June.

Philadelphia Journalism Eighty Years Ago. — II.
Asa Manchester Steele. Leisure Hours (13 c.) for June.

A War Correspondent's Narrowest Escape from
Sudden Death. Archibald Forbes. Youth's Companion

• ' 8 c. ) for June 14.

The Relation op Music to Poetry in the American
Poets. Helen A. Clarke. Music (28 c.) for June.

NEWS AND NOTES.

WorthingtorCs Magazine, Hartford, Conn.,
is discontinued with the June number.

D. Appleton & Co. have removed to the new
building at the northwest corner of Fifth ave-
nue and Thirteenth street, New York.

The Lothrop Publishing Company, of Boston,
has bought the plant, goodwill, accounts, copy-
rights, and stock of the D. Lothrop Company,
D. Lothrop & Co., and the Inter-state Publish-
ing Company. Edmund H. Pennell is its presi-
dent, Frank M. Hoyt is vice-president, and
Harry E. Morrell is treasurer. All have been
for many years associated with the D. Lothrop
Company. The new house is located at 114-120
Purchase street, Boston.

Charles Scribner*s Sons have finished their
removal from 743 and 745 Broadway, New
York, to their new building, 1 51-155 Fifth ave-
nue, between Twenty-first and Twenty-second
streets.

The Bookman, which has been a success in
London, is to have an American edition.

Dr. Oliver Wendell Holmes has gone to his
summer home at Beverly Farms.

W. D. Howells and his daughter sailed for
Europe June 2.

Mrs. M. French-Sheldon sailed for Europe
from New York June 23.

Baron Nils Posse before leaving for Europe
completed the revision of his '* Educational
Gymnastics," which will be issued soon by Lee
& Shepard, under the title of " Special Kinesi-
ology of Educational Gymnastics." It will be
the most complete work on the subject in the
English language.

William T. Adams ("Oliver Optic") has
engaged his passage for his annual trip to
Europe about July i. Mr. Adams has been
at work until recently on the new volume of the
All-Overthe-World Library, entitled *' Up and
Down the Nile," and having completed the story,
means to recuperate by a short sojourn abroad.

Rev. C. Ellis Stevens, LL. D., D. C. L.,
author of " Sources of the; Constitution of the
United States," a book now attracting attention
as answering Douglas Campbell, is an Amer-
ican by birth and descent, and not an English-
man, as some of the reviewers declare. He is
rector of Christ church, Philadelphia, the old
church of Washington and Franklin.

112

The Writer.

William Waldorf Astor has contracted to pay
Robert Louis Stevenson £2,Sso ($14,250) for
the serial rights of his next novel of 110,000
words, which is not yet written. It is intended
exclusively for the Pa// Ma// Magazitie* A
complete edition of the writings of Stevenson
is soon to be published in England in twenty
octavo volumes. It is to be a subscription
edition of only i.ooo signed copies.

The first prize of $100 offered by the Domi-
nant ( Philadelphia) for the best words for a
patriotic song has been awarded to Osman C.
Hooper, and the second prize of $50 has been
awarded to Thomas J. Duggan. The Dominant
now offers a prize of $100 for the best musical
setting of each poem.

Harriet Beecher Stowe was nominally eighty-
two years of age June 14, but, according to the
Hartford Times^ she was really eighty-three.
It explains the matter thus: "The T/'w^j has
once before stated that the biographies and
cyclopaedias are all in error as to the year of
her birth, and also concerning the natal year of
Henry Ward Beecher. Both are published as
having been born one year later than they
actually were. A consultation of * the old
family Bible* settles it; Mrs. Stowe was born
in 181 1 and Henry Ward in 1813. The famous
author is in her customary state of good physi-
cal health, and is cheerful as ever, though her
mental state is, and has been for several years,
not what it used to be."

The short prize story, "The Crisis of a Soul,"
by Mrs. Lydia Hoyt Farmer, published in the
New York Observer for June 14, depicts the
temptations which beset the author to cater to
the debased public taste in literature. The
hero of the story, finding his moral writings un-
available, succumbs to the temptation of gain-
ing fame and fortune by realistic portrayals of
crime and vice. His remorseful horror as he
views in a dream the awful results of such per-
nicious books in the wrecked lives of men and
women, and his triumphant sacrifice for con-
science' sake, are described in graphic style.

Miss Bettie Garland, of Clerksville, Tenn., is
the winner of the prize in the poem contest
conducted by the SoutJiern Magazine ( Louis-
vlJIeJ. There ivere joo competitors.

The frontispiece of the Magazine of Art
( New York ) for July is an original etching of
" Lord Byron's View, Harrow," by Francis
Walker, A. R. P. E "Some Portraits of
Byron," by F. G. Kilton, in the same number,
has eight interesting illustrations.

In McC/ure's Magazine for July appears the
story of the literary life of Daudet, told by him-
self, and illustrated with portraits of Daudet
and views of his town and country homes. The
"Human Documents" includes a series of
portraits of Captain Charles King.

Ibsen confesses that he cannot write with
any inspiration without a tray before him which
contains a little bear in wood, a little black
devil holding a wax candle, and several rabbits
and cats made of copper. " This may appear
to you to be ridiculous," said Ibsen, "but so it
is. As to the use I make of them, that is my
secret, and I shall not divulge it to you or to
any one else."

The service done by Lady Mary Wortley
Montagu in introducing the custom of inocu-
lating for smallpox into England is described
by Mrs. H. M. Plunkett in an interesting article
in the Popu/ar Science Month/y for July. In
the same number Professor James Sully has
the first of half a dozen papers on " Studies of
Childhood," the subject of imagination beiag
first treated.

The public has learned Lowell's estimate of
Mr. Howells through the delightful volumes of
letters edited by the friend of both, Professor
Charles Eliot Norton. Mr. Howells' first im-
pressions of Lowell are given in his delightful
" First Visit to New England," now being pub-
lished in Harper^ s Magazine, In the July
number the novelist describes a dinner at Par-
ker's, in Boston, at which Lowell's guests were
Dr. Holmes, James T. Fields, and the future
chronicler of the event.

Julian Hawthorne has recently bought a large
farm in the mountains of Jamaica, where he in-
tends to raise fruit and early vegetables for the
northern markets. He has also rented a most
beautiful residence, Mona, on a coffee estate
near Kingston.

Professor W. D. Whitney, of Yale University,,
died at New Haven June 10, aged sixty-six.

The

Writer:

A MONTHLY MAGAZINE TO INTEREST AND HELP ALL LITERARY WORKERS.

Vol. VII.

BOSTON, AUGUST, 1894.

No. 8.

Entered at the Boston Post-office as second-class mail matter.

CONTENTS: pagb

Hints on Play-writing. Edward Kir kland Cowmg: 113

What Is Mental Dvspkpsia? Bertha P. Herrick. . 114

Katb Chopin. 19^ illiam Schuyler 115

Editorial 118

Illustrations That Do Not Illustrate 118

In Dsfbncs of the Illustr.\tor. IV. G, Dennison. . 119

Queries 119

The Scrap Basket 120

Newspaper Engush Edited 120

Book Reviews 120

Helpful Hint| and Suggestions 123

A Good Paste 122

Literary Articles in Periodicals 123

News and Notes 124

HINTS ON PLAY-WRITING.

Just as religious enthusiasts spring to their
feet and relate their experiences for the general
good, so allow me to give briefly some informa-
tion about the art of play-writing.

Of untold assistance to the playwright is a
detailed knowledge of the plot, which should
be thoroughly outlined before he composes one
word of the play.

In most cases the dialogue will be suggested
by the incidents of the plot as they unfold
themselves.

Omit all attempts at fancy writing, and pre-
sent each idea with the greatest clearness as
well as force.

When at work, always try to retain complete
control of your best judgment, lest it err
through yielding to the excitement of the stir-
ring incidents with which you are dealing.

If a point be reached where there is much
indecision as to the next step, do not resort to
some lazy expedient to get you out of the

trouble, but think until the difficulty has been
surmounted.

Do not feel certain that, because your play
reads smoothly, it will, consequently, be success-
ful as a dramatic work, for most of the best
plays read poorly, owing to frequent interrup-
tions caused by the interspersion of business
and stage directions, which help to interpret the
lines when the play is presented.

A play should be all action. Movement is
not necessarily action, for much action may be
suggested by a properly inflected sentence ;
while a scene full of action may be created by
a person looking in through a stage window, for
instance, and uttering exclamations descriptive
of what is occurring in the room, but out of
sight of the audience.

Try to acquire a definite idea of the proper
proportions of the gay and the solemn, just as
an artist does of light and shade, not permitting
too great a predominance of either, yet dispos-
ing each so as to produce the best efiEects.

Avoid having similar scenes, dialogues, or
groups of characters follow each other too
closely, as an audience quickly becomes wearied
by sameness.

It is well to remember that an element of
suspense is most desirable, and if you withhold
until the last moment the explanation of some
important point, the audience will be less likely
to disturb the final tableau by reaching after
coats and hats.

Bear in mind that there is an absolute neces-
sity for supplying the strongest possible motives
for all important actions and of revealing them
at the proper moment.

Think of the main climax of your play as the
peak of a mountain. All that precedes it must

Copvright.^894, by William H. Hills. All righu reterrad.

114

THE WRITER.

lead the audience, by pleasing stages, directly
up to it. All that follows must conduct them
once more by gradual descent to the level
ground on the opposite side.

In conclusion, permit me to liken a good play
to a beautiful mosaic, combining many thou-
sands of little details, within the limits of a

prescribed frame. Unexpected, though pleas-
ing, combinations are observable upon each
fresh inspection, while at the same time all its
minute parts are so deftly and artistically
arranged that distance serves only to enhance
its perfection. Edward Kirkland Cowing,
Nbw York, N. Y.

WHAT IS "MENTAL DYSPEPSIA '\?

In the rush and competition of modern life,
when the country is flooded with literature,
good, bad, and indifferent; when free libraries
are found in every town and city, and paper
books may be purchased for the price of a ferry-
ticket, there has arisen a peculiar malady,
which is popularly known as "mental dyspep-
sia." The causes are over-application, in the
widest sense, and desultory or ill-chosen read-
ing; the effects are brain-tire and confusion;
and the cure is reduction, or regulation in men-
tal diet.

George Eliot strikes the key-note of the hour
when she observes in " Middlemarch," ** It
seems as if people were worn out on the way to
great thoughts, and could never enjoy them, be-
cause they are too tired."

While brain exercise conduces to longevity
and happiness, the quantity and quality should
be taken into consideration ; for, as has been
well said, ** It is not what we eat, but what we
digest, that makes us strong ; not what we read,
but what we remember, that makes us wise."

For every hour spent with a book many
scholars recommend another hour of thought ;
as by gradual and persistent training the mind
may become a storehouse of facts and fancies,
from which supplies may be drawn in leisure
moments, crowding out the common-place and
trivial.

" Memory," said the schoolboy, " is what you
forget with." It is impossible to remember
^verjthing, and much may be profitably forgot-

ten ; while the wheat should be separated from
the chaff by judicious skipping.

Valuable aids to recollection are found in
strict attention to the text and review, however
slight, of the subject under consideration. By
way of illustration of this point, let any one
skim lightly through a number of topics some-
thing like the following: "Are Our College
Graduates Fitted for the Battle of Life 1 " " The
Language of Monkeys," " What is Buddhism } "
" How to Renovate Old Mahogany," "A Charm-
ing Costume for a Debutante," " Some Remarks
on the Occultation of Orion," "An Old-fash-
ioned Recipe for Molasses Pie," and " The
Seal-fisheries of Alaska." Nine times out of
ten he will say that there is "no news," or, "I
have read until I am dizzy, but I cannot remem-
ber a single thing."

It is undesirable to " run through " an encyclo-
paedia or reference-book, merely for the sake of
killing time ; to begin a book in the middle, or to
"read one backward," chapter by chapter, as
some people have actually been known to do.
An ignoramus once remarked that "the dic-
tionary was an exceedingly interesting work ;
but the ideas were rather disconnected." The
taking of notes or memoranda is often carried
to excess ; but, in its place, the habit is of im-
portant service.

Every one, poor or rich, has some time to
read. Not a few of the world's greatest schol-
ars studied in stolen moments, over the anvil,
the counter, or the shoemaker's bench. In the

The Writer.

115

course of a few years a woman ooce learned
.^even languages while waiting, daily, for her
kettle to boil.

Life is too short, and good books are too
>many, to give a place to trash, which weakens
the mind, and renders it incapable of appreciat-
ing the highest. While the " novel habit " is
•undesirable, the thoughtful reading of master-
pieces of fiction tends to broaden the mental
•horizon, to cultivate the art of conversation, and
to increase one's knowledge of human nature.
Howells has described a certain class of weak
•novels as " having a moral, minced small, thinned
with milk and water, and flavored with sentimen-
tality or religiosity."

Ally sort of a story is often thought fit to put
into a trunk on a vacation-trip ; but there are
iplenty of books of good pure fun, such as
" Rudder Grange " and the " Squirrel Inn," by
Stockton, or " My Summer in a Garden," by
•Charles Dudley Warner, which divert without
deteriorating.

Occasionally, a book may be read several
times with profit; or a deep book and a lighter
one may be perused alternately.

It has been said that every one who works
with his brain should cultivate a plot of ground

with his own hands. The book-worm is often
apt to neglect his fellow-men, forgetting that
friction with the cultivated produces a polish
created in no other way. An interchange of
thoughts and ideas would a£Fect his intellectual
faculties as favorably as would an exchange of
shells and minerals increase the value of a
cabinet collection.

The mind, left completely to its own society,
tends to revolve in an ever-narrowing circle,
and feeds upon itself.

Sometimes the over-worked student finds
relaxation in hobbies, in pictures, or music, or
in poems like Tennyson's lovely " Idylls " or
Owen Meredith's "Lucile." But the greatest
cure for the brain-weary is to turn from the
printed page to the wonderful book of Nature.
Let them climb the eternal hills, and fill their
lungs with God's free oxygen; listen to the
song of the meadow-lark and inhale the perfume
of the field-flower ; unravel the mysteries of
the forests and the secrets of the sea ; and,
with a mind expanded and a spirit elevated,
they need not cry with Solomon : " Of making
many books there is no end ; and much study
is a weariness of the flesh."

Oakland, Calif. Bertha F. Hcrrick.

KATE CHOPIN.

Mrs. Kate Chopin, the author of "Bayou
Polk," was born in St. Louis in the early 'fifties
and, as can be readily calculated, is not the
*' young person " that many of her reviewers are
l)ent on thinking her to be. This wrong impres-
sion of theirs regarding her, while it is in some
respects flattering, is one which Mrs. Chopin
«eems anxious to correct. Her father was
Thomas O'Flaherty, a native of Galloway,
Ireland, and for many years a prominent mer-
chant in St. Louis. Her mother was the
"daughter of Wilson Faris, a Kentuckian, and
-Athinaise Charleville, a descendant of a Hugue-

not family which had settled in " Old Kas-
kaskia " in the early part of the eighteenth
century. The predominance of Celtic and the
presence of so much French blood in Mrs.
Chopin's ancestry may account for the delicate
and sensuous touch and the love of art for art's
sake which characterize all her work, and which
are qualities foreign to most Teutonic produc-
tions.

Her first childish impressions were gathered
just before and during the war and in the latter
days of slavery. Her father's house was full of
negro servants, and the soft ct^^^Vt^x^'^O^ -^s^^^

ii6

THE WRITER.

patois and the quaint darkey dialect were more
familiar to the growing child than any other
form of speech. She also knew the faithful
love of her negro " mammy," and saw the devo-
tion of which the well-treated slaves were capa-
ble during the hard times of the war, when the
men of the family were either dead or fighting
in the ranks of the " lost cause."

Mrs. Chopin's girlish friends remember well
her gifts as a teller of marvellous stories, most
of them the impromptu flashings of childish
imagination ; and her favorite resort was a step-
ladder in the attic, where, wrapped in a big
shawl in the winter, or in airy dishabille in the
dog days, she would pore over the stacks of
poetry and fiction which were stored there —
the shelves of the library being reserved for
solid and pretentious cyclopaedias and Roman
Catholic religious works. She was not distin-
guished as a scholar during her rather irregular
attendance at the convent school, as she pre-
ferred to read Walter Scott and Edmund
Spenser to doing any sums or parsing stupid
sentences, and only during the last two years of
her school life did she ever do any serious
work. Her schoolmates say that her essays
and poetic exercises were thought to be quite
remarkable, not only by the scholars, but even
by the sisters ; and, perhaps, had Mrs. Chopin's
environment been different, her genius might
have developed twenty years sooner than it did.

But many things occurred to turn her from
literary ambition. At seventeen she left school
and plunged into the whirl of fashionable life,
for two years being one of the acknowledged
belles of St. Louis, a favorite not only for her
beauty, but also for her amiability of character
and her cleverness. She was already fast acquir-
ing that knowledge of human nature which her
stories show, though she was then turning it to
other than artistic triumphs. She married Mr.
Oscar Chopin, a wealthy cotton factor of New
Orleans, a distant connection of hers, the
Charlevilles having hosts of " cousins " in the
Pelican state.

After spending some time in Europe with

her husband, she passed the next ten years

of her life in New Orleans, engrossed in the

manifold duties which overpower a society

woman and the conscientious mother of a

large and growing family; for six children
were born during that period. Toward the
close of the decade, her husband gave up his
business and removed to Natchitoches Parish,
among the bayous of the Red River, to manage
several plantations belonging to himself and
his relatives. However, his life as a planter
was short. He died in 1882, in the midst of the
cotton harvest.

It was then that Mrs. Chopin, having rejected
all offers of assistance from kindly relatives,
undertook the management of her plantations
and developed much ability as a business
woman. She had to carry on correspondence
with the cotton factors in New Orleans, make
written contracts, necessitating many personal
interviews with the poorer Creoles, the Aca-
dians, and the "free mulattoes," who raised the
crop " on shares," see that the plantation store
was well stocked, and sometimes even, in
emergencies, keep shop herself. It was hard
work, but in doing it she had the opportunity
of closely observing all those oddities of
Southern character which give so much life and
variety to her pages.

In the midst of all her labors she still found
time to keep up her reading, which she had
never abandoned, but the subjects which now
attracted her were almost entirely scientific,
the departments of Biology and Anthropology
having a special interest for her. The works of
Darwin, Huxley, and Spencer were her daily
companions ; for the study of the human species,
both general and particular, has always been her
constant delight.

After a few years, when Mrs. Chopin had not
only straightened out her affairs, but had put
her plantations in a flourishing condition, she
returned to her old home, and has ever since
made St. Louis her residence.

Having led such a busy life on the planta-
tion, she had learned how to economize her
time, and all her social and household duties
here, together with her reading, were not suffi-
cient to occupy her mind. Then, urged by the
advice of an intimate friend, who had been
struck with the literary quality of some of her
letters, she began to write, very diffidently at
first and only for her friend's perusal, essa3rs»
poems, and stories. Finally, she dared to send

THE WRITER.

117

her productions to the magazines. With the
exception of one beautiful little poem, they
were promptly returned. Mrs. Chopin con-
tends that they were properly treated, having
been, as she says, "crude and unformed.''
She did not, as an unappreciated genius,
abuse the editors, but began to study to
better her style. In order to aid her self-
criticism she sold and even gave away her
productions to local periodicals, and holds that
she learned much from seeing her work in
" cold type.'* She wrote a long novel, ** At
Fault," which was printed in St. Louis in 1890.
In this somewhat imperfect work may be seen
the germs of all she has done since. The story
has some faults of construction, but the charac-
ter drawing is excellent, and in the case of the
young Creole, " Gr^goire Santien," faultless.
During the following year she wrote a great
number of short stories and sketches, which she
sent about to different magazines, and the most
of them were not returned as before. The
Youth'' s Companion^ Harper's Young People^
and Wide Awake took all her children's
stories, and the Century Magazine accepted
" A No Account Creole,'' the longest tale in
^* Bayou Folk." This story appeared last Janu-
ary, after having been kept for about three
years, and was the means of making Mrs.
Chopin's name better known to the general
public. In the mean time, other periodicals
had accepted and published her work, which
now numbers some sixty stories, and Houghton
& Mifflin accepted the collection of twenty-
three tales known as " Bayou Folk."

Mrs. Chopin has also written a second novel,
which a few favored friends have been per-
mitted to read, and which, in the estimation of
some, is her very strongest work. It is to be
hoped that it will soon see the light.

She is particularly favored in not being
obliged to depend upon her writing for her live-
lihood. There is, consequently, no trace of
hack writing in any of her work. When the
theme of a story occurs to her she writes it out
immediately, often at one sitting, then, after a
little, copies it out carefully, seldom making
corrections. She never retouches after that.

Personally, Mrs. Chopin is a most interesting
and attractive woman. She has a charming

face, with regular features and very expressive
brown eyes, which show to great advantage
beneath the beautiful hair, prematurely gray,
which she arranges in a very becoming fashion.
Her manner is exceedingly quiet, and one real-
izes only afterward how many good and witty
things she has said in the course of the conver-
sation.

While not pretending to be a student, she
still keeps well informed of the leading move-
ments of the age, and in literature she decid-
edly leans to the French school. She reads
with pleasure Moli^re, Alphonse Daudet, and
especially De Maupassant. Zola, in her
opinion, while colossal in his bigness, takes
life too clumsily and seriously, which is the
fault she also finds with Ibsen. Americans, in
their artistic insight and treatment, are, she
thinks, well up with the French ; and, with the
advantage which they enjoy of a wider and
more variegated field for observation, would,
perhaps, surpass them, were it not that the
limitations imposed upon their art by their
environment hamper a full and spontaneous
expression. Mrs. Chopin has little to say of
the English workers. She treats rather conde-
scendingly a certain class of contemporary
English women writers, whose novels are now
the vogue. She calls them a lot of clever
women gone wrong, and thinks that a well-
directed course of scientific study might help to
make clearer their vision; might, anyhow, bring
them a little closer to Nature, with whom at
present they seem to have not even a bowing
acquaintance. She has great respect for Mrs.
Humphry Ward's achievements ; but Mrs.
Ward is, au fond, a reformer, and such ten-
dency in a novelist she considers a crime
against good taste — only the genius of a
Dickens or a Thackeray can excuse it.

From time to time Mrs. Chopin returns to
Natchitoches to look after her business affairs,
and also to refresh her recollections of that land
of Creoles and 'Cadians. The people of Natchi-
toches always receive her enthusiastically, since
they thoroughly endorse her artistic presenta-
tion of their locality and its population ; for Mrs.
Chopin is not, like most prophets, without
honor in her own country.

St. Louis, Mo. Wiil\Q.n\. ScKv.>j\eT.

ii8

THE Writer.

The Writer.

Poblkhcd monthly by The Writer Publishing Company, aSa
Wuhington street, Rooms 9 and zo, Boston, Mass.

WILLIAM H. HILLS. . . . Editor.

%*Thb Wkitbr is published the first day of every month.
It will be sent, post-paid, 0^fB Ybar for Onb Dollar.

%* All drafts and money orders should be made payable to
The Writer Publishing Co. Stamps, or local checks, sbotM
not be sent in payment for subscriptions.

%*Thb Writbr will be sent only to those who have paid for
it in advance. Accounts cannot be opened for subscriptions,
and names will not be entered on the list unless the subscription
order is accompanied by a remittance. When subscriptions ex-
pire the names of subscribers will be taken off the list unless an
order for renewal, accompanied by remittance, is received. Due
notice will be given to every subscriber of the expiration of his
subscription.

•«♦ No sample copies of Thb Writer will be sent free.

•♦•The American News Company, of New York, and the
New England News Company, of Boston, and their branches,
are wholesale agents for Thb Writbr. It may be ordered
from any newsdealer, or direct, by mail, from the publisher.

•«• Everything that may be printed in the magazine will be
written expressly for it.

•«• Not one line of paid advertisement will be printed in Thb
Writbr outside of the advertising pages.

•«• Advertising rates will be sent on request.

•«• Contributions not used will be returned, if a stamped and
addressed envelope is enclosed.

THE WRITER PUBLISHING CO.,

282 Washington street (Rooms 9 and 10),

P. O. Box 1905. Boston, Mass.

Vol. VII. August, 1894.

No. 8.

Illustrations are undoubtedly an essential
part of modern literature, as Mr. Dennison
says in his article in the present number of
The Writer, but "illustrations" that do not
illustrate are a torment to discriminating read-
ers of books and magazines. In days when
picture-making in books cost more than it does

now, it used to be the habit of publishers to
borrow, or hire, old woodcuts from each otber^
so that the same picture might possibly do ser-
vice in several different books or periodicals —
an of which, of course, it could' not "illustrate"
with equal happiness. In these modern times,
when pictures cost not so very much more than
typesetting, there is no need of such make-
shifts. Every publisher who illustrates an
article can afford to illustrate it well, and if he
has hired an artist to do the work, he will cer-
tainly not have to pay a higher price on account
of insisting that the artist shall read the manu-
script he is to illustrate, before he begins to-
draw his pictures.

4k 4k

That artists do not always pay this slight
tribute to the genius of authors whose writings-
they have been hired to adorn — possibly be-
cause publishers do not always give them the
opportunity — is proven every month by pic-
tures printed in leading magazines. The Hart-
ford Cottrant noticed some time ago that in«
Charles Egbert Craddock's story in the Decem-
ber Harper'' s Mr. Frost made the face and
figure of the heroine that of a middle-aged
woman, while the text described her as a girl
of sixteen. In illustrating Brander Matthews'
Manhattan vignette, "A Midsummer Mid-
night," in Harper*s for January Mr. Smedley
had a picture of a flame-wreathed hotel facade,
with the hero of the story in a properly-perilous
position, but the street below in the picture was
altogether bare of the thick-foliaged trees which
Mr. Matthews described so vividly in his story.
Sometimes illustrations do not illustrate because
one manuscript is illustrated by two or more
artists, who do not make the necessary consul-
tations with each other. In a story published
recently in one of the leading magazines the
scene is played in one act and the characters
do not leave the room. In the first picture the
heroine has on a walking costume and a sailor
hat; in the next — and remember she does not
leave her seat or the society of her lover —
she has on a calling gown of silk and furbelows
and a bonnet. Of course, the explanation is-
that the two pictures were drawn by different
artists, who evidently thought that consistency
in dressing their lay figures was a petty detail"

The Writer.

119

that might be overlooked without fear of any
evil consequences.

Sometimes, however, blunders of this kind
are not due to collaboration. In Demoresfs
Family Magazine for January the artist who
illustrated Margaret Bisland^s story shows us a
girl entering a doorway dressed in a plain cloth
costume, heavily trimmed with black velvet, with
long points running up from the bottom of the
skirt. According to the story, the girl comes in
and immediately seats herself, Turk-wise, before
the fire, and the same artist — Hooper — shows
her there in a dotted India silk costume, with two
little ruffles on the skirt and a little shoulder
cape of velvet. Perhaps Mr. Hooper thought
that as Demoresfs is primarily a fashion mag-
azine the more costumes he could show in a
given space, the better, but his author does n't
allow time in the story even for a "lightning
change."

Most of us, no doubt, have felt a keen dis-
appointment in taking up a handsome new
illustiated edition of a favorite old book and
finding that the artist's pictures of the fa-
miliar characters, who have lived in our memo-
ries so long that they are as definite personali-
ties as those of any of our friends, are wholly
at variance with the characters as we in our
own minds have pictured them. That is inevi-
table, perhaps, since no two people are likely
to get from the description of a character the
same idea ; but when story and pictures are
published originally together, so that their
impression on the reader's mind is to be sim-
ultaneous, it certainly is not asking too much
that the author and the artist shall agree. "Il-
lustrations" that do not illustrate are a vexa-
tion unto the spirit, and a sore weariness unto
the flesh. w. h. h.

IN DEFENCE OF THE ILLUSTRATOR.

Being interested in illustration, I read with
interest the article on " Inconsistencies of Il-
lustration " in the July number of The Writer.
In defence of the illustrator, I want to say that
in nine cases out of ten the person giving copy

to the artist to illustrate does not have any
definite idea of what is desired, and it is little
wonder that the illustrator does not get the
same idea that the author afterward conceives.

The question is asked, " Cannot the author,
then, in justice demand that his work be ex-
empt from all attempts at illustrations?" De-
cidedly, no! Have not our great American
publishers found that illustration pays ? Take,
for instance, the house of Harper & Bros., and
watch the publications which it places on the
market and you may count on your fingers the
number of works issued without illustrations.

Again, take one example among the great
writers. Did not Dickens believe in illustra-
tions ? His works would lead one to say, yes.

It is unjust to judge all illustrators by the
failure of one. Illustrations are absolutely nec-
essary to the success of many books, and their
drawings are to the monotonous pages of plain
type as a sunny day in the middle of a rainy
week.

The illustrator has a decided place on the
publisher's staff, and without his drawings liter-
ature would be less attractive.

W. G. Dennison.

Boston, Mass.

QUERIES.

[ Questions relating to literary work or literary topics will be
answered in this department. Questions mustAbe brief, and
of general interest. Questions on general topics should be
directed elsewhere.]

Will you kindly give the list of objectionable
words and phrases prepared for the use of the
students at Wellesley College some time ago,
and also Bryant's index expurgatorius of words ?

R. s. T.

[The list of *' words, phrases, and expres-
sions to be avoided," prepared for the benefit
of the students at Wellesley College, is as fol-
lows : —

" Guess " for " suppose " or " think."

" Fix " for " arrange " or "prepare."

" Ride " and *' drive " interchangeably.

( Americanism. )

** Real " as .an adverb, in expressions " real

good " for " really " or " very good," etc.

'* Some " or *' any " in an adverbial sense ;

e, g,, " I have studied some " for ** somewhat,"

" I have not studied any " for " at all."

120

THE WRITER.

"Storms" for it "rains" or " snows " mod-
erately.

" Some " ten days for " about " ten days.

" Not as " I know, for ♦* that " I know.

** Try " an experiment for " make " an experi-
ment.

Singular subject with contracted plural verb,
e. g.^ "She don't skate well."

Plural pronoun with singular antecedent.
Every " man " or " woman " should do " their "
duty ; or, if you look " any one " straight in
the face, " they " will flinch.

" Expect" for "suspect."

" First rate " as an adverb.

" Nice," indiscriminately.

" Had " rather for " would " rather.

" Had " better for " would " better.

" Right away " for " immediately."

" Party " for " person."

" Promise " for " assure."

" Posted " for " informed."

" Post graduate" for "graduate."

" Depot " for " station."

" Stopping " for " staying."

Try " and " go for try " to " go.

Try " and " do for try " to " do.

" Cunning " for " smart," " dainty."

" Cute " for " acute."

" Funny " for " odd " or " unusual."

" Above " for " foregoing," " more than," or
" beyond."

Does it look " good " enough for " well "
enough.

The matter " of " for the matter " with."

" Like " I do for " as " I do.

Not " as good " for not " so good" as.

Feel " badly " for feel " bad."

Feel "good " for feel " well."

" Between " seven for " among" seven.

Seldom "or" ever for seldom "if" ever or
"seldom or never."

Taste and smell "of " when used transitively.

More than you think "for" for "more than
you think."

" These " kind for " this " kind.

" Nicely " in response to an inquiry.

" Healthy " for " wholesome."

Just as " soon " for just as " lief."

" Kind of," to indicate a moderate degree.

The editor of The Writer has not Bryant's
list at hand. Can any of the readers of the
magazine supply it. -^ — w. h. h.]

THE SCRAP BASKET.

In answer to the inquiry made by " N. H."
on page 72 of the June Writer : J. F. Waller
is the author of the pleasing poem " Magda-
lena ; or. The Spanish Duel." It is in " Cum-

nock's Choice Readings," sold by Jansen, Mc-

Clurg, & Co., Chicago.

H, George Schuette.

Manitowoc, Wis.

NEWSPAPER ENGLISH EDITED.

Beside this, none of the
routes come into the heart of
the city, and hence do not
afford opportunities for the
most efficient system of rapid
transit. — Boston Herald
Editorial.

Beside.« this, none of the
routes come into the heart of
the city, and so they do not
afford opportunities for the
most efficient system of rapid
transit.

In each instance, however,
the flames were confined to
the car where they originated
by prompt work of firemen
and police. — Chicago de-
spatch..

In each instance, however,
prompt work by firemen and
police confined the flames to
the car in which they ori^-
nated.

BOOK REVIEWS.

Steps into Journalism. Helps and hint? for young writers.
By Edwin Llewellyn Shuman. 229 pp. Clotn, $1.25.
Evanston, 111. : The Correspondence School of Journalism.
1894-

Barring an occasional tendency to fine writ-
ing and a little bad advice, Mr. Shuman 's book
deserves warm commendation as the best and
most practical general work on newspaper-
making that has yet been published. The
author has had a good deal of newspaper ex-
perience, and he has in the main right ideas
about newspaper work. Any one who reads
his book carefully will get a very fair idea of
how newspapers of the present day are made,
and a good many hints, too, about the methods
of the workers in the different departments,
which will be of value to those who have under-
taken, or mean to undertake, journalistic work.
The experience of the author has been mainly
on Chicago papers, and, while the Chicago
papers are enterprising and bright, their stand-
ard of journalistic ethics is not what it ought
to be. For that reason, some of the advice

fiven by Mr. Shuman is not the best which a
eginner in newspaper work could receive.
" Faking," he says, " is perhaps excusable as
long as the imaginative writing is confined to
non-essentials and is done by one who has in
him at least the desire to represent the truth."
Afterward he says: "This trick of drawing
upon the imagination for the non-essential parts
of an article is certainly one of the most valua-
ble secrets of the profession at its present stage
of development. Truth in essentials, imagina-
tion in non-essentials, is considered a legitimate
rule of action in every office." It may be in
Chicago, as Mr. Shuman says, but it is not so
in the offices of the best newspapers through-
out the country, and in writing as he does Mr.

The Writer.

Ill

Shuman gives beginners distinctly bad ad-
vice. There are plenty of reporters every-
where who think that it is smart to "fake,"
but they are frowned upon by the best work-
ers in the profession, and sooner or later they
are sure to come to grief. The "faking"
habit grows on one, and the reporter who
begins by "faking" unessential details is
sure to end by "faking" important facts —
sooner or later to his own destruction. " Fak-
ing," anyway, is only a symptom of laziness on
•the part of the reporter. Trutli really is stranger
and more interesting than fiction, and actualities
will do more to make an interesting story —
which Mr. Shuman rightly says is the para-
inount object of the modern newspaper writer —
than the products of the average reporter's
imagination. Nine times out of ten the re-
porter who "lakes" details does so only be-
cause he is too lazy, or has not enough ability,
to gather up the facts.

In his indications of reporters' methods, too,
Mr. Shuman's advice is based upon the sup-
posed needs of Chicago journalism. There is
absolutely no reason why a reporter anywhere
or under any circumstances should do anything
of which a cultivated gentleman has need to be
ashamed, or do " impudent, prying work," which
any man with any self-respect must heartily
despise. For that reason, when Mr. Shuman
speaks approvingly of the enterprise of a re-
porter who thrusts " his No. 8 inside the door
and prevents it from closing " when a man whom
he wants to interview is trying to slam it in his
face, he commends an action of which a good
reporter would never be guilty, and which he
would never find to be necessary if he under-
stood his business well.

These faults in Mr. Shuman's book, however,
are insignificant when compared with its gen-
eral excellence. As a means of information
about the inside work of newspaper offices and
of suggestions to young reporters it is generally
trustworthy and helpful, and there is no active
newspaper man who cannot get some benefit
from reading it. With " Steps into Journal-
ism " and Luce's "Writing for the Press" as
text-books, constantly at hand for study, the be-
ginner in journalism will be very well equipped.

w. H. H.

•Five Hundred Places to Sell Manuscripts. A manual
designed for the euidance of writers in disposing of their
work. Compiled by James Knapp Reeve. 59 pp. Board
covers. $1.00. FrankLn, O. : The Chronicle Press. 1894.

-The difficulty with all printed lists of " peri-
odicals that pay contributors " is that they are
sure to get out of date within a month or two
after they are published, and ever after that
they become more and more misleading, as time
goes on, to those who depend upon them for
-guidance in marketing their manuscripts. For
flnstance, in this new Dook of Mr. Reeve's, the

publishers have already found it necessary to
cross out with a pen references to Worthing-
ion's Magazine and Smithy Gray^ 6r* Co.s
Monthly^ and a number of other publications
are named which are either moribund or at least
in such hard financial circumstances as to make
it unprofitable for writers to try to deal with
them. The information about the requirements
and methods of periodicals given in such lists,
too, is necessarily vague and unsatisfactory, in
very many (;ases, and Mr. Reeve's list, like
others of the kind, includes many periodicals
that do not pay for manuscripts submitted by
casual contributors. As a suggestion of possi-
ble markets which might not otherwise come to
mind, however, such books as this have value,
and Mr. Reeve's book, though it has many
defects, is the best one of the kind in the mar-
ket at the present time. It must be used, how-
ever, with caution, for the reasons that have
been indicated. w. h. h.

Bon-mots op Samuel Foote and Theodore Hook. Edited
by Walter Jerrold; with grotesques by Aubrey Beardsley.
192 pp. New York : Macmillan & Co. 1894.

The third in the dainty little " Bon-mots "
series is quite as attractive as its predecessors,
devoted to Sydney Smith and Sheridan, and
Charles Lamb and Douglas Jerrold, respectively.
It has good etched portraits of Foote and Hook,
and an introduction giving the essential facts
regarding the lives of the two wits whose say-
ings make up the body of the little volume.
Aubrey Beardsley's drawings are ornamental
and interesting, if not illustrative. One instruc-
tive feature of the book is that it shows how old
many of the new jokes published nowadays in
the papers really are. Perhaps they were as
old, too, when Foote and Hook made people
laugh with them. w. h. h.

Picturesque Berkshire. Part I., "6 pp.; Part II., 112
pp. In one volume, cloth, $4.00. Northampton, Mass.,
Pictures^que Publishing Company ; Springfield. Mass., The
W. F. Adams Company. 1894.

The series of books illustrating picturesque
New England has been enriched by the publi-
cation of " Picturesque Berkshire," a handsome
volume crowded with the finest half-tone pic-
tures of scenes in Berkshire county, in the
western part of Massachusetts. The same ex-
quisite taste shown in the other volumes of the
series is shown also in this new book. The
photographs from which the illustrations have
been made are perfect pictures of New Eng-
land C9untry life, and they have been repro-
duced in the highest perfection of the half-tone
art. There are 1,200 of these fine pictures in
the book, and there is hardly one among them
that is not a gem. Every town in the county is
representefd by a variety of characteristic and
attractive views, every one of which has been
made expressly for this work. To any who
live, or ever have lived, in New England tKe.

122

The Writer.

volume has a special attractiveness, and those
who are unfortunate enough to have lived else-
where will find it a perfect panorama of New
England country life. The letter-press, too, is
interesting. " Picturesque Berkshire " has been
preceded by " Picturesque Franklin," *' Pictu-
resque Hampshire," each of one volume, and
*' Picturesque Hampden," two volumes. All of
these books may be obtained in Boston of
W. B. Clarke & Co., Washington street, or of
George E. Littlefield, (i^ Cornhill. w. h. h.

The Book of thb Fair. An historical and descriptive pres*
entation of the world's science, art, and industrpr, as viewed
through the Columbian Exposition at Chicago in 1893. By
Hubert Howe Bancroft. JPart X. 40 pp. Paper, $1.00.
Chicago and San Francisco : The Bancroft Company. 1S94.

In part ten of the Bancroft "Book of the
Fair," chapter thirteen, describing and illus-
trating the Agricultural building at Chicago
and its exhibits, is concluded, and chapter four-
teen, devoted to the electrical exhibits, is be-
gun. Besides the many smaller illustrations,
there are six full-page half-tone pictures in the
number, showing the grand basin and court of
honor, the Columbus arch of the peristvle, the
reaper exhibit in the Agricultural building, ad-
ministration plaza on Chicagjo day, a view up
the east lagoon, and the illumination of the
court of honor. w. H. H.

" Common Sense " Applied to Woman Suffrage. By
Mary Putnam-Jacobi, M. D. 336 pp. Cloth, $1.00. New
York : G. P. Putnam's Sons. 1894.

Dr. Jacobins book, according to its sub-title,
is "a statement of the reasons which justify
the demand to extend the suffrage to women,
with consideration of the arguments against
such enfranchisement, and with special refer-
ence to the issues presented to the New York
state convention of 1894." After an introduc-
tory chapter come sections entitled " Evolu-
tion of Status of Women Since 1848," "Immi-
nence of Woman Suffrage," ** Existing Political
Situation," *' Arguments of Opponents," "Al-
leged Inexperience of Women,"" Public Meas-
ures in which Women May Be Interested,"
"The American Discovery — Webster and
Madison," and "The Existing Situation." An
appendix gives the author's recent address
before the New York constitutional convention.

w. H. H.

With the Wild Flowers from Pussy-Willow to Thistle-
down. By E. M. Hardinge. 271 pp. Cloth, iJi.oo. New
York: Baker & Taylor Company. 1894.

The great merit of this book of practical
botany is that the flowers and plants mentioned
in it are spoken of in a popular way, the fewest
possible technical terms being used. As the
author says in her preface : " When one has
been compelled to learn that a rose belongs to
the series Pha;nogams, class dicotyledons, sub-
class angiosperms, division polypetalous, and
order Rosaceae, it does not thereafter smell

quite so sweet — Shakespeare to the contrary-
notwithstanding." " The student," she adds^
" who has been compelled to learn that canescent
means hoary, and that hypocrateriform means
salver-shaped has been bothered to little pur^
pose." With this in view, she has written a
series of interesting papers on the wild flowers,,
taking them up in the order in which they ap-
pear from spring to fall, and speaking of them
in terms which any one can understand. The-
information that sne gives is accurate, and the-
book ought to have wide popularity and sale.

w. H. H.

BOOKS RECEIVED.

[ All books sent to the editor of The Writer will be ac-
knowledged under this heading. They will receive such further
notice as may be warranted by their importance to readers of
the magazine.]

The Island of Nantucket. What it was and what it is.
With a correct map. Compiled by Edward K. Godfrey.
365 pp. Paper, 50 cents. Boston : Lee & Shep<ird.

His Will and Hers. By Dora Russell. 314 pp. Paper,
50 cents. Chicago: Rand, McNally, & Co. 1894.

The Abb^ Constantin. By Ludovic HaMvy. Illustrated.
226 pp. Paper, 50 cents. Chicago: Rand, McNally, & Co.
1S94.

On a Mexican Mustang. By Alexander E. Sweet and
J. Arnioy Knox. Illustrated. 290 pp. Paper, 25 cents.
Chicago: Rand, McNally, & Co. 1S94.

The Disappearance of Mr. Derwent, Bv Thomas Cobb.
263 pp. Paper, 50 cents. Chicago : F. T. Neely. 1894.

The Queen of Ecuador. By R. M. Manley. 331 pp.
Paper, 50 cents. New York : The H. W. Hagemann Put>-
lishing Company. 1894.

HELPFUL HINTS AND SUGGESTIONS.

[Under this heading it is intended to describe any handy
little contrivance that may be of use in any way to literary
workers. Facts about home-made devices particularly are de-
sired. Paid descriptions of patented articles will not be
printed here on any terms ; but this shall not hinder any one
from letting others know gratuitously about any invention that
is of more than ordinary value to literary workers. Readers of
The Writer are urged to tell for the benefit of other readers
what little schemes they may have devised or used to make
their work easier or better. By a free exchange of personal
experiences every one will be helped, and, no matter how
simple a useful idea is, it is an advantage that ever>' one should
know about it. Generally, the simpler the device, the greater
is its value.]

A Good Paste. — E. F. Phillips tells in the
Photographic Times how to make a satisfactory
paste, as follows : " Put two or three tea-
spoonfuls of water, as hot as you can hold (not
dip) your fingers in, into a clean teacup; have
a teacupful of boiling water ready, then put in a
heaping teaspoonful of corn starch into the

The Writer.

TT^

water in the teacup, stir it smooth, then pour in

boiling water, stirring the mixture as you do so

till it clears and turns a sort of opal blue ; now,

if you have time, stir it till cool ; if not, sprinkle

it with just enough cool water ( very little ) to

prevent its skimming over, and set it aside to

cool." A. L.

Nbw York, N. Y.

Preserving Magazine Articles. — In every
magazine there are likely to be one or two ar-
ticles that are worth preserving, even though it
is not worth while to keep the whole magazine.
By cutting the threads or removing the wires,
you may easily take out the pages containing
the articles in question, discarding the rest of
the magazine. On the first page of each article
should be written the name and the date of the
periodical from which it is taken. When a
sufficient number of such articles have col-
lected, it is a good idea to have them bound
together in a book, with an index on a fly-leaf
or two at the beginning. Another good way is
to fasten the leaves of each article together'
with a metal clip, or even with a pin, and file
them in pasteboard pamphlet cases, also
properly indexed. If this is done, it is not
necessary to take the magazine apart to get the
articles out. By using a tin strip, such as busi-
ness men use for tearing out checks, with a
little care you can tear out six or seven pages
of a magazine at a time, making the edge of the
inner margin smooth and even, and defacing
the magazine as little as is possible. Any hos-
pital will be glad to get what is left of the
magazine. T. r. w.

Nbw York, N. Y.

LITERARY ARTICLES IN PERIODICALS.

[The publisher of Thb Writbr will send to any address a
copy of any magaiine mentioned in the following reference list
on receipt of the amount given in parenthesis following the name
— the amount being in each case the price of the periodical,
with thrgg ctnts postage added. Unless a price is given, the
periodical must be ordered from the publication office. Readers
who send to the publishers of the periodicals indexed for copies
containing the articles mentioned in the list will confer a favor
if they will mention Thb Writbr when they write.]

Mv First Book. A. Conan Doyle. McClure*s Magazine
( z8 c. ) for August.

Nbwspapbr " Faking.*' George Grantham Bain. Lippin-
cotfs ( 28 c. ) for August.

Distribution of Govbrnmbnt Publications. Edward S.
Morse. Popular Science Monthly ( 53 c. ) for August.

On Accuracy in Obsbrvation. H. Littlewood, F. R. C. S..
Popular Science Monthly ( 53 c. ) for August.

WiLLiAMi Ma»tiibw Williams. With portrait. Popnlav
Science Monthly ( 53 c. ) for August.

Thb Editor's Story. Richard Harding Davis. Harper* r
( 38 c. ) for August.

Chaptbrs in Journalism. Geoi^e W. Smalley. Harper's^
( 38 c. ) for August.

My First Visit to New England. — IV. William D.
Howells. Harper"* s (38 c.) for August.

Vulgarity in Fiction. Charles Dudley Warner. Editor's-
Study. Harper's ( 38 c. )<for August.

Richard Harding Davis. Edward W. Bok. Rudyard
Kipling. Alice Graham McCollin. John Kbndrick Bangs.
William McKendree. Jbromb Kwata Jbromb. Frederick
Dolman. With portraits. Ladies* Home Journal (13 c.) for
August.

My Literary Passions. William D. Howells. Ladies'
Home Journal (13 c.) for August.

The Care of Books. Domestic Monthly (18 c. ) for
August.

Gborgb Meredith's Novels. Emily F. Wheeler. Chan-
tauquan (28 c.) for August.

Jambs Fbnimore Coopbr. Illustrated from old prints.
Brander Matthews. St. Nicholas (28 c.) for August.

Productive Conditions of American Literature.
Hamlin Garland. Forum (28 c.) for August.

Letters of Sidney Lanier. — II. William R. Thayer.
Atlantic Monthly (38 c. ) for August.

The Mechanism of Thought. Alfred Binet. Reprinted
from Fortnightly Review in Eclectic ( 48 c. ) for August.

With R. L. Stevenson in Samoa. Reprinted from Corn^
hill Magazine in Eclectic ( 48 c. ) for August.

Lowell's Letters to Poe. Edited by George E. Wood-
berry. 5'£rri^«^r*j (28 c. ) for August.

Shb and Journalism. Story. Harrison Robertson.
Scribner s (28 c.) for August.

The Talk in Novels. The point of view. Scribner*s
(28 c. )for August.

(JEORGE MoORE AND ** ESTHER WaTERS." GilsOO WillettS.

Current Literature (28 c. ) for August.

William Allen Butlbr. Gilson Willetts. . Current
Literature (28 c. ) for August.

Charles Dudley Warner as a Writer of Fiction.
With portrait. Brander Matthews. Harper^ s Weekly ( 13 c. )•
for June 30.

The Origin of " Ben Bolt." Harper's Weekly (13 c. )
for July 21.

New York and the " Liberty of the Press." Eugene
Lawrence. Harper^s Weekly ( 13 c. ) for July 28.

Why Do Certain Works of Fiction Succeed ? Marion^
Wilcox. New Science Review ( 53 c. ) for July.

The Novelist as a Gentleman. Book Reviews for July.

Philadelphia Journalism Eighty Years Ago. Asa
Manchester Steele. Leisure Hours for July.

The Permanent in Poetry. Warren Truitt. Overland
Monthly (28 c.) for July.

A Proble.m in Authorship. Robert Whitaker. Overlatut
Monthly (28 c. ) for July.

Ruth Herrick's Assignment. A story. Elizabeth G.
Jordan. Cosmopolitan ( 18 c. ) for July.

In the Country of Lorna Doone. William H. Rideing.
New England Magazine (28 c.) for July.

124

The Writer.

The First Abolition Journals. Samuel C. Williams.
New England Magazine ( 2S c. ) for July.

Whittier's Religion. With portrait. Rev. W. H. Sav-
age. A rena ( 53 c. ) for July.

In Defence of Harriet Shelley. — I. Mark Twain.
North A tnerican Review for July.

Alphonsb Daudbt at Home. R. H. Sherard. McClure^s
Magazine ( 18 c. ) for July.

Letters of Sidney Lanier. — L William R. Thayer.
Atlantic Monthly ( 38 c. ) for July.

The Duties of Authors. Leslie Stephen. Reprinted
from National Review in Eclectic ( 48 c. ) for July.

The Essay Considered from an Artistic Point of
View. E. H. Lacon Watson. Reprinted from tVestminster
Review in Eclectic (48 c. ) for July.

Dramatic Criticism. W. L. Courtney. Reprinted from
Contemporary Review in Eclectic ( 48 c. ) for July.

A Visit to the Tennysons in 1839. Bartle Teeling.
Reprinted from BlackwoocTs Magazine in Eclectic ( 48 c. ) for
July.

Technique of Pen-process Drawing. C. Ashleigh Snow.
JVilson's Photographic Magazine ( 33 c. ) for July.

Natural Colors in the Printing Press. Macfarlane
Anderson. IVilsonU Photographic Magazine (33 c.) for July.

Thomas William Parsons. Portrait. Century (38 c. )
for July.

A German Comic Paper ( Fliegende Blatter). William D.
Ellwanger and Charles Mulford Robinson. Century ( 38 c. )
for July.

What Is Plagiarism? Editor's Outlo3k. Chautauquan
(28 c. ) for July.

My Literary Passions. William D. Howells. Ladies'
Home Journal ( 13 c. ) for July.

Mary Hartwell Cathbrwood. With portrait. Mary
Merton. Ladies^ Home Journal (13 c.) for July.

The New York Authors Club. Gilson Willetts. Godey*s
< 13 c. ) for July.

Miss Maibelle Justice ("Paul Savage"). With por-
trait. Boston Ideas for June 17.

Mrs. Ruth McEnery Stuart. Arthur Stedman.
Augusta ( Ga. ) Chronicle lor July 1.

E. L. GoDKiN. Portrait. Town Topics for July 5.

Errors ok Authors. Reprinted from St. Louis Globe-
Dentocra{ in Chicago Herald for J uly 7.

Martha McCulloch Williams. New York Morning
Journal iox July 8.

John Stuart Blackie at Home. Arthur Warren. Bos-
ton Herald for July 8.

George Du Maurier. Omaha World-Herald for July 8.

Bryant's Home at Cummington. Springfield Union for
July 10.

Mrs. Lydia Hoyt Farmer. Manchester ( N. H. ) Mirror
for July II.

A Word with the Amateur Writer. Paul Siegfolk.
New York Home Journal lor July 11.

A Good Literary Style. Mrs. Helen E. Starrett. Chi-
cago Interior for July 12.

In A D. Coolbrith. Chicago Post for July 14.

A Visit to the Home of George MacDonald. H. M.
Barbour. Churchman lo" 'uly 14.

George R. Graham. Philadelphia Telegraph for July 14.

Bret Hartb. Edward Marshall. Galveston News for
July 15.

George Du Maurier. Kansas City Star for July 15.

Msjv Who Makb Jokbs. Chicago Post for July 16.

Helkn Watterson Moody. Narcisse Jarvis. Portland
( Me. ) Argus for July 16.

Henry Greville. New York Home Journal ior July 18.

The Novelist's Art of Characterization. H. H.
Boyesen. Independent for July 19.

Thrums and Barrie. Springjield ( Mass. ) Homestead
for July 21.

A Talk with Paul Heyse. With portrait. Countess
von Krockow. Outlook for July 21.

The Bryant Centennial. Arthur Stedman. Boston
Herald for July 22.

Stevenson in Samoa. Will M. Clemens. Philadelphia
Times for July 22.

On Some Methods of Suppression and Modification
IN Pictorial Photography. Reprinted from the Studio in
Photographic Times ( 18 c. ) for July 27.

Wagner as a Writer. Gustav Kobb^. Outlook for
July 28.

American Humor. M. P. Pendleton. Outlook for July a8.

NEWS AND NOTES.

Dr. Frederic M. Bird is the new editor of
Lippincotfs Magazine,

The hundredth anniversary of the birth of
William CuUen Bryant will be celebrated on
the Hampshire hills, August i6. November 3
is the date of the poet's birth, but the earlier
date was fixed in order to secure a better at-
tendance.

The Californian Magazine is dead, the April
number having been the last one published.

E. C. Allen & Co., of Augusta, Me., pub-
lishers of twelve papers, having together a cir-
culation of more than 1,000,000 copies a month,
announced in July that they would go out of
business July 31. Since then the business has
been sold to one of their employees.

Fred C. Laird and W. H. Lee, of Chicago,
have dissolved their co-partnership, and W. H.
Lee will continue the business alone, under the
name of Laird & Lee.

The Photo-Electro Engraving Co., of Boston,
has been combined with the Suffolk Engraving
Co., and the consolidated establishment will
have its office hereafter at 275 Washington
street.

Publisher J. G. Cupples, of Boston, has asso-
ciated himself with H. W. Patterson, and the
firm name hereafter will be Cupples & Patter-
son. The new partner is a young man of means
and executive ability.

The Writer.

125

Lorio F. D eland, husband of Mrs. Margaret
Deland, has succeeded Dexter Smith as the
editor of the Musical Record^ Boston.

Mrs. Mary E. Blake ("M. E. B.") sailed
for Europe with two of her children July 7.

Mrs. Mary J. Serrano, the translator, has
sailed for France, and will remain abroad dur-
ing the next three months. Her journey will
take her to Rome, Florence, Paris, and Venice .

"Larry" Chittenden, the "poet ranchman,"
of Chittenden's ranch, Anson, Texas, sailed for
Europe July 20, to be gone two months. Mr.
Chittenden's trip is made in the interest of sev-
eral Western newspapers and syndicates. His
book, " Ranch Verses," which has run through
two editions, will appear in a new third edition
in the fall. Mr. Chittenden's Texas friends are
urging him to accept a nomination for congress.

Mr. and Mrs. Thomas Bailey Aldrich are at
their new cottage in Tenant's Harbor, Me., for
the summer.

Thomas A. Janvier intends to take a trip to
the other side, to be gone until autumn.

Professor Hjalmar Hjorth Boyesen is spend-
ing the summer at jjiis cottage at Southamp-
ton, L. I.

Henry Goelet McVicar is spending the sum-
mer on the Continent.

Professor Mc Master is staying at Kenne-
bunkport.

Edgar Stanton Maclay is in New York City
finishing the proofs of Volume II. of his
" History of the United States Navy."

Professor N. S. Shaler is at his country
place on Martha's Vineyard.

Rudyard Kipling has settled for the summe r
in Tisbury, Wiltshire, England.

Mrs. Frances Hodgson Burnett and Mrs.
Louise Chandler Moulton are spending the
summer in England. Mrs. Burnett has re-
opened her house in Portland place, and Mrs.
Moulton has returned to the home she has
made for herself during the dozen or so years
of her summer residence in London.

J. M. Barrie is to marry Miss Mary Ansell,
who played a part in his play, " Walker, Lon-
don," at Toole's Theatre.

Kirk Munroe, the author of the " Mate "
stories, and of "The Fur-Seal's Tooth," now
running in Harper^s Young People^ recently
arrived in New York for his annual sojourn in
the North during the summer months. The
winter and much of the spring and autumn he
spends at Cocoanut Grove, on the Atlantic
coast of southern Florida.

Professor James Ford Rhodes, the historian,
is at Rye Beach, where he is engaged in com-
pleting the third volume of his history of the
United States.

Miss Anne H. Wharton, of Philadelphia, is
in Boston making researches and gathering
material for a book, which will treat largely of
colonial life.

Howard Pyle is staying in Ambassador
Bayard's colonial mansion near Wilmington,
Del. He usually spends his summers at his
cottage at Rehoboth, below Cape Henlopen.

Julian Hawthorne, who went with his wife
and seven children to Jamaica some months
ago, writes back that he has concluded to pass
the rest of his life there. He is located on a
plantation near Kingston and growing orange
and citron trees and coffee, and incidentally
writing something which he hopes " will inter-
est our great-grandchildren " even.

Tone-color has been defined as the quality of
vowels and consonants which best adapt them
to the vocal presentation of thought and
emotion.

Langdon Elwyn Mitchell, author of " Sylvian,
and Other Poems," and of a new book of poems
published by Houghton, Mifflin, & Co., is a son
of Dr. S. Weir Mitchell, of Philadelphia.

George W. Smalley, the London representa-
tive of the New York Tribune^ in an interesting
article in the August Harper's traces the origin
of the modern newspaper correspondent, and
iUustrates his points with anecdotes based on
personal experience.

New York is to have a new magazine, the
purpose of which is to cater to the literary and
alma mater news wants of college graduates.
It will be edited by John Seymour Wood, of
Yale, and Walter Camp will have charge of:
the athletic departmtnl*

126

The Writer.

The Bow-Knot Publishing Company, of
Chicago, — regarding the financial standing of
which The Writer is not informed, — offers
$2,000 for the four best works of fiction sent to
it before December 31, 1894, the prizes to be
$ 1 ,000, $500, $300, and J200, respectively. The
books must contain between 60,000 and 80,000
words, and will be judged on their merits, the
author sending his name in a sealed envelope.
The company will publish the successful books
and allow the authors ten per cent, on the retail
sales in addition to the prizes. Professor
Albert Alberg, of London, Eng. ; Miss Minna
Irving, of Tarry town, N. Y. ; and Colonel Will
L. Visscher, editor of the Morning Union^
Tacoma, Wash., will be the judges.

The Southern Magazine^ Louisville, Ky., is
•offering prizes for the best stories by strictly
new writers. Under its definition a "new
writer" is one who has not had work accepted
by the Southern Magazine^ the Century^ Har-
J>er's, the Cosmopolitan^ Scribner'*s, Lippincotfsy
or the Ladies' Home journal. The prizes are :
$50 in gold for the best story, $50 for the sec-
ond best, and $25 for the third best. Manu-
scripts must be submitted before September i.
Writers will be interested in another contest
by the same magazine, for " the best photograph
by an amateur " which most fully answers cer-
tain special requirements. Applicants are sent
-a written sketch, and contestants are to " photo-
graph some scene or action of this sketch " to
represent the central idea of the story. This
contest serves to show a demand which writers
•will do well to bear in mind. A practical knowl-
edge of photography is constantlyjgrowing more
'valuable to the all-around writer, as well as to
■the specialist.

Comfort is renewing its old offer of $100 a
month in prizes for the five best stories submit-
ted for each issue. They are graded in value,
thus: First, $30; second, $25 ; third, $20;
iourth, $15 ; fifth, $10. The contestant must be
a paid-up subscriber, and must hand in two new
subscriptions with each manuscript submitted.
No manuscripts will be returned. Such com-
petitive manuscripts are to be addressed :
"Editor Nutshell Story .Club, care Comfort,
.Augusta, Maine."

The subscription rate of the Fourth Es-
tate ( New York ) will be $2 a year, instead of
$1, beginning August i.

Romance ( New York ) has reduced its price
from twenty-five cents f o ten cents a copy. The
editor of Romance will not read any more manu-
scripts till after October i .

Godeys Magazine has reduced its price from
twenty-five cents a number to ten cents a num-
ber.

Miss Elsie S. Nordhoff, who has a story in
the August Harper* Sy is a daughter of Charles
Nordhoff, the correspondent.

Dr. Wolfred Nelson, whose " Five Years at
Panama " is the standard book relating to the
isthmus, has been elected a fellow of the Royal
Geographical Society of Great Britain.

Octave Uzanne has a fanciful story in Scrib-
ner*s for August, entitled " The End of Books,"
and describing the impending condition of
affairs when all books and newspapers will be
produced by phonographs instead of by type —
with the accompanying changes in the art of
binding, editing, bookselling, etc. A number of
letters written by James Russell Lowell to Poe
in 1 842-1 844 are printed in the same number,
together with a story, " She and Journalism," by
Harrison Robertson, one of the editors of the
Louisville Courier-yournal,

The Review of Reviews for July has portraits
of Sir Isaac Pitman, Professor William D.
Whitney, Professor Henry Morley, and Ed-
mund Yates.

The Quarterly Illustrator (New York ) for
July-September contains 362 illustrations by
more than 150 well-known artists, whose names
and addresses are indexed alphabetically. There
are also eighteen portraits of American artists
and portraits of some foreign artists. The
letter-press is full of interest.

There have been various claimants of the
celebrity of being " the first woman writer for
the daily press." The latest of them is Mrs.
Lynn Linton, the novelist, who says that when
she was twenty-three years old she was on the
staff of the London Morning Chronicle, Mrs.
Linton has produced forty novels in the forty-
six years of her literary career.

The Writer.

127

The London Sketch prints this notice in a
Tecent issue : "To Authors and Others; It is
particularly requested that no further poems or
short stories be sent to the Sketchy as the editor
has a supply sufficient to last him well into the
twentieth century^"

Norman Gale is preparing an anthology based
•on a very novel and remarkable principle. It
is to be a selection from the works of living
poets under forty years of age.

A writer in the Philadelphia Inquirer learns
irom an old account book belonging to Gra-
JianCs Magazine that Edgar Allen Poe was
.paid $52 for his story, "The Gold Bug."

Much has been printed lately of the remarka-
ble collection of miniature books belonging to
the French collector, Georges Salomon. He
has more than 700 such tiny volumes, the larg-
est measuring two inches by one and one-eighth
inches, and the smallest, a French edition of
the *' Chemin de la Croix," which has 1 19 pages,
being half an inch long by three-eighths of an
'inch wide. All the books are exquisitely bound.

Lorimer Stoddard, the son of R. H. Stoddard,
the poet, has had poems published in the Cos-
mopolitan^ the Independent^ and other periodi-
cals. Young Mr. Stoddard has also written
several plays.

The Philadelphia Record says that Miss
Agnes Repplier, who is now visiting London,
has become quite a literary lion in that city.
Andrew Lang has given a dinner party in her
honor, among the guests being Professor Max
Miiller. Mrs. Humphry Ward has also enter-
tained her at an "at home," and has spent
some time in her company.

It is interesting to hear what Miss Beatrice
Harraden tells of the publishers. " I had piles
of rejected manuscripts," she says. " I wrote
story after story for Blackwood's^ and all of
them came back to me, though the editor
always sent a note, begging me to try again.
After a while I met Mrs. Lynn Linton and Mrs.
William Blackwood. They gave me the bene-
fit of intelligence and sympathetic criticism,
and then my stories began to get into print."

McC lure's Magazine for August has a por-
trait of Dr. Washington Gladden.

A new biography of the Brontes is being pre-
pared under the joint collaboration of Clement
Shorter, of the Illustrated London News and
the English Illustrated Magazine ^ and Dr.
Robertson Nicoll, of the Bookman and the
British Weekly.

" Several writers of repute," says the A then-
CBum^ " are paid at the rate of $60 a thousand
words for their short stories, but no novelist, we
believe, has received so much for his serial rights
as the editors of the Pall Mall Magazine have
paid George Meredith for * Lord Ormont and
His Aminta.' The price, it is said on the best
authority, was $50 a thousand words."

Janet Buchanan, of Le Mars, Iowa, won the
prize for the best short story offered by the
Midland Monthly of Des Moines. There were
eighty-four contestants.

Edith M. Arnold, author of "Platonics,"
published by Dodd, Mead, & Co., is a sister to
Mrs. Humphry Ward.

Lloyd Osborne, the collaborator with Robert
Louis Stevenson in "The Ebb-Tide," which
has just come to a conclusion in McClure^s
Magazine^ is the novelist's stepson. Mrs.
Stevenson, who is also a writer of no little
fame, was married first to Samuel Osborne, a
Californian, from whom she obtained a divorce
when her son Lloyd was a baby. Her second
marriage is a very happy one, Stevenson being
a devotedly kind husband and father.

The cost of each number of the Centnrv
before it goes to press is $10,000 for contribu-
tions and pictures alone. Frank H. Scott,
president of the Century Company, made this
statement in a public address at the dinner of
the Quill Club May 8. In the same address he
said that the Century published last year 396
articles by 324 different writers, a large part of
whom had never before written for the maga-
zine. He made this statement to show how
unfounded is the belief that magazines are run
by cliques.

Harlan Page Halsey, better known as " Old
Sleuth," the writer of hair-raising detective
stories, is an active member of the Brooklyn
board of education. His income from his
novels is about $20^000 a.'^^^x^

128

THE WRITER.

The artist-author is becoming quite a com-
mon factor in the literature of to-day. The list
now includes G. H. Boughton, George Du Mau-
rier, Frederick Remington, F. Hopkinson
Smith, F. S. Church, Hamilton Gibson, Mr.
Zogbaum, and Alfred Parsons.

The publication of the July Cosmopolitan
marks the close of the first year since the an-
nouncement was made that the price of that
magazine had been cut to $1.50 a year. The
magazine printed, for the six months embraced
in Volume XVI., 1,419,^)0 copies, an entirely un-
approached record, and has doubled its already
large plant of presses and binding machinery.
The walls of the Cosmopolitan's new home are
rapidly rising at Irvington-on-the-Hudson, and
the new building, with its eight great porticos,
will be 279 feet long by seventy-six feet wide,
and one of the most perfectly lighted buildings
in the world, having 160 large windows. Arthur
Sherburne Hardy will continue to conduct the
editorial affairs of the magazine in New York
city.

The real name of " G. Colmore," author of
" A Daughter of Music," is Mrs. Georgia Dunn.
She is the wife of a London barrister, Mr. Col-
more Dunn, who lives near Hyde Park.

About fifty years ago the Scribners were pay-
ing $400 a year rent and had plenty of room.
Now they occupy a building which cost them
$500,000.

General Lew Wallace recently told a New
York interviewer that he never had any idea of
forming an American Academy of Immortals.
The story, he says, all grew out of his giving
to Congressman Black, of Illinois, a bill to per-
mit fifteen men of letters of the United States
to have the privilege of visiting the congres-
sional library at Washington and taking what-
ever books they desired to their rooms to study
or collect data from. His idea was that these
fifteen men should enjoy the privilege for life.
At present, only congressmen can take books
from the library.

W. J. Linton, the English engraver, painter,
poet, and philanthropist, who has lived in New
Haven for a number of years, is now more than
eighty years of age, yet is quite active in liter-
ary research.

"Anthony Hope's" real name is A. H-
Hawkins. He was born in 1863, and is a-
barrister-at-law of the Middle Temple, having
been called in 1887. His first book, "A Man
of Mark," was published in 1890; *' Father
Stafford," in 1891 ; "Mr. Witts' Widow," in
1892; and " Sport Royal," a collection of short
stories, in 1893. "A Change of Air" and
" The Prisoner of Zenda " have appeared in
close succession since the beginning of the
present year. Mr. Hawkins was a liberal can-
didate for parliament at the last general elec-
tion, but was defeated.

Readers of "The Hoosier Schoolmaster"
will remember Phillips, the champion speller of
the Indiana school described therein. .Phillips
still lives in Vevay, Ind., Dr. Eggleston's old
home, and will soon be seventy-three years old.

Some confusion has been caused in the
public mind by the fact that there are two Miss
Kate Sanborns, whose names have appeared a
good deal lately in the public prints. One of
them is Miss Kate Sanborn, the author and
lecturer, who has bought herself a new farm at
Metcalf, Mass. The other is Miss Kate San-
born, of St. Louis, daughter of Hon. E. B. S.
Sanborn, of Franklin, N. H., who has been
elected city librarian of Manchester, N. H.

At Tennyson's death, the late Robert Clark,
the Edinburgh printer, had thirty-six printing,
presses engaged for three weeks in turning out
the poet's works. At the same printery, for the
last thirty years, at least thirty hands have been
employed uninterruptedly in printing Scott's
works. Of the first two of the sixpenny edi-
tions of Kingsley works, more than a million
copies were sold.

Howard Seeley died in Brooklyn, N. Y.^
June 22.

William Davis Gallegher, journalist and
poet, died at Louisville, Ky., June 28.

Sir Austen Henry Layard, G. C. B., died in
London July 4, aged seventy-seven.

George R. Graham, once publisher of Gra-
ham's Magazine^ died at Orange, N. J., July 13,,
aged eighty-one.

Walter Pater died suddenly at Oxford, Eng-
land, July 30, aged fifty-five.

The

Writer:

A MONTHLY MAGAZINE TO INTEREST AND HELP ALL LITERARY WORKERS,

Vol. VII.

BOSTON, SEPTEMBER, 1894.

No. 9.

EMTtRtO AT TMI BOtTON PofT^mCl A« UCONO-CIAM lUIL lUTTlW.

CONTENTS : fao«

Sno«t>stoky Wmtimo. Marf E. Child, 1*9

OwBK Wi$T««. Sydtuy G. FisMsr «30

EOITOKIAL. >3>

The Chance for the Neiv Writer iS>

A GuiDB TO TMB Manusciiipt Makkst. B4ik Day. . 133

QuniBS. >34

NBwsPApmit English Editbd 13S

Tub ScKAr Baskbt 13S

Commas After Words in Series, 135 — "None"

with Plural Verb, 13s — Author of QooUtion Wanted. 136

Book Rbvisws. 136

Hblpful Hints and Siwobstions. 140

A Msgasine File, 140 — Note>inaking on Book-covers. 140

LiTBSAIIY AKTICLBS IN PxiUODICALS. 14O

Nbws and Notbs 14s

SHORT-STORY WRITING.

That the short story as it exists to-day is the
product of the last few years no one can deny.
Whatever the cause of its great popularity,
whether books are slowly but surely yielding to
newspapers and magazines, whether each year
less time is given to any kind of reading than
formerly, it is not necessary to discuss here.
The fact remains, the short story now enjoys
the greatest favor of the reading public and is
the one class of literature in which the largest
number of writers are striving to win renown.

That the writing of short stories requires a
special talent, a style and temperament differ-
ent from that requisite for novel writing, is
proven by the failure of many who are suc-
cesses in other lines. The short story is now
a distinct branch of literature, fulfilling quite
another ofHce from its older sister, the novel,
and requiring different treatment.

The short story of to-day is something more
than a shortened long story. Whatever the
real or ostensible purpose of the novel may be,

— amusing, philosophical, or aiming at reforms,

— its reader opens it with the deliberate inten-
tion of devoting a certain amount of time to its
perusal. He is willing to consider the author's
opinions, expects digressions, analyzations, re-
flections. Not so with the short story. It is
a thing of the moment, caught up between work
hours, — a thing to be read hurriedly, but once,
maybe, and never glanced at again. To be
successful, to make a lasting impression, the
author must strike while the iron is hot. He
must not weaken his e£Fect by descriptions, or
waste his time in digressions. He must efface
himself absolutely. He must present one or
more strong characters, a striking incident, and
he must do it quickly, that the story may be
like a flash light and burn itself into the
reader's memory.

A novel is a picture of life, a rounded, fllled-
out sequence of cause and effect. The short
story is the glimpse of a moment's action, the
study of a characteristic, the outlining of a
defect, a virtue, a hope, a fear, a mistake. It
is like the sketch an artist makes of eath of the
figures in a painting. He takes them piece-
meal, — tries his skill on the hang of a garment,
the poise of a head, the turn of a hand. The
short-story writer does the same thing, and
leaves it to the reader to take the sketch and
paint it into the great panorama of his own
experiences.

The short story is the charcoal sketch of lit-
erature. There is no shading, apparently no
patient, painstaking minuteness of detail, no
elaborated background. It is sim^W ^ V>^Vs^

Copnitht, 1I94, h$ WiuAikM H. U\u*. KQl

i'3o

The Writer.

study in a few short, strong lines. It is to pro-
duce a single e£Eect, convey one impression.
For this reason the greatest charm, the great-
est strength of a short story often lies in what
it does not say. " The secret of wearying your
reader," said Voltaire, " is to tell him all." Let
it be the reader who fills in the background ;
let him make a picture of the study.

Consider the popular short story of the day.
There is something almost brusque in its treat-
ment. There is no introduction of its hero by
a third person, but one comes upon him sud-
denly and laughs or cries with him, likes or dis-
likes him, and then he walks away and that is
all. After he is gone one has time to decide
what color his eyes were and to speculate upon
his bringing up. One wonders what his for-
tunes were in the past, and where he went to,
and how he fares. He sticks in the memory
because he is so cleanly cut, so boldly sketched.

A successful short story of to day means con-
densation, few characters, short descriptions, if

any, quick-time movement, and a total efiEace-
ment of the writer. A story that covers several
years loses crispness. Never mind what hap-
pened long ago to your character, or what will
happen in the future ; your office is with the
present moment, the present action.

As for the incident, the motive, the short
story oflEers wide scope for literary aspirants.
In no other field is there so ample opportunity
for individuality. It is a significant fact that
the most successful short stories have not been
love tales. The thousand and one incidents in
every-day prosaic pleasure ancT pain, the petty
troubles, the humble sacrifices, the modest as-
pirations, the quiet, humdrum side of life, all
these arc having their turn now, after the great
and heroic has been worn threadbare. He who
can create something out of the hitherto uncon-
sidered trifies has done much, for he has exalted
the mighty little things to their rightful place in
the world. Mary E, Child.

Jackson, Mich.

OWEN WISTER.

Mr. Owen Wister, whose stories of Western
life in Harper* s Magazine have for the last
three years attracted so much attention, was
born in Philadelphia, July 14, i860, of a family
well known and prominent in that city ever
since the revolution. He went to school in
Switzerland and England from 1870 to 1873,
thence to St. Paul's School, Concord, N. H.,
where he remained until 1878, in which year he
went to Harvard. He was graduated from the
college with the class of 1882. He attained the
highest honors in music and honorable mention
in philosophy and English composition.

After his graduation he was for a time with a
banking house in Boston, and also spent some

time in Europe, where he studied music, to
which at that time he was very much devoted.
He was recommended by Liszt at Bayreuth and
Guiraud in Paris to take up composition, and
he studied for a time with the latter; but he
was turned away from music by circumstances.
He came home and entered the Harvard Law
School, where he graduated in 1888, receiving
at the same time with his law degree the degree
of A. M. of the university. He was admitted
to the Philadelphia bar in 1889.

Besides his taste for music, Mr. Wister had
always shown since his school days a decided
ability for literary composition. He had been
one of the editors of a little periodical when he

The Writer.

131

was at school, and at college he was constantly
writing plays and producing compositions of
various sorts of a light character, almost in-
variably in a humorous vein. These produc-
tions were very bright and were always admired
by his /friends, but never came to any serious
importance. His story-writing, which has now
roused the people to a new sense of his abilities,
dates from a visit in the summer of 1885 ^^ ^
cattle ranch in the West. He saw a great deal
of Western life at that time, and it made a
deep impression on him, as it has on many
others. Accustomed to the civilization of
eastern America and Europe, he had no
idea that the West contained anything very
interesting, and he would at that time have
been the last person in the world to suppose
that it contained the material for literature.
On this first Western expedition he discovered
also that he was a natural-born hunter. He
was soon devoting himself to all the details of
rifies and camp equipage, and has since then
made several remarkable hunting trips, in one
of which he penetrated the mountain fastnesses
of Washington Territory and shot a number of
those curious and rare animals, the Rocky
mountain wild goat.

On this first Western trip he had seen a great
deal of life among the cattle men, for the cattle
era was at that time still brilliant and booming.
On his next visit, in 1887, he went to Fort
Washakie, a typical frontier post, 150 miles from
a railroad, where he first studied Western mili-
tary life and Indian reservations, and again in-
dulged in mountain hunting. He went West
again the following year and has been going
West ever since, sometimes twice a year, ex-
ploring the whole country from the Rio Grande
to the British boundary, becoming familiar
with military posts, Indians, ranches, hunting
camps, together with the peculiar characters of
the mining regions and the small towns. He
had always kept a journal with detailed notes
of what he saw and heard, but never thought
of writing until late in the year 1891, after a
prolonged journey through the cattle country
of Wyoming and a trip through the Wind River
mountains. He then wrote " Hank's Woman,"
a story that was rather crudely executed, but
showed power, and soon afterward he wrote

"How Linn McClean Went East,'* which
was so skilfully and artistically executed
that it was hard to believe it had been written
by the author of "Hank's Woman." It was
not only full of incident and pathos, but con-
tained some excellent character drawing, and
has been pronounced by a competent critic to
be as good as any short story can be.

" Balaam and Pedro," another story showing
the same varied powers, was his next venture,
and after that came " Emily," a tale in lighter
vein. Since then several of his stories, "A
Kinsman of Red Cloud," "Little Big Horn
Medicine," and "The General's Blu£E," have
been historical, and deal with important events
in the military and Indian life of the plains.
He has also written " The Winning of the Bis-
cuit Shooter," " The Promised Land," " Speci-
men Jones," and " The Serenade at Siskiyou."
A striking characteristic of all these stories is
their fidelity to the life of which they treat, and
this fidelity has been testified to by many promi-
nent people in all walks of life who have passed
their lives in the West. A man of Mr. Wister's
education and associations naturally takes this
real and true view of his work, and it is a merit
of no little importance.

Mr. Wister seldom invents the main inci-
dents of any of his stories. He believes that
if he knows of an actual fact suited to the
development of the story, there is no use in
inventing one, so that many of his events are
often taken unmodified from the real life he
has seen. In this respect he has had the same
experience other writers have had and finds
that the incidents he has altered the least from
reality excite the most incredulity. His charac-
ters are, however, of course, all imaginary, ex-
cept when he deals with some public character,
like General Crook. He writes slowly, taking
generally two weeks to a story, and usually
writes in the morning. When embarked on a
story he seldom works every day, but stops and
thinks of other things. Too much thinking he
finds turns the story stale. But his stories are
always thought over for many weeks before he
begins them, and then written and rewritten
until they are as he wants them.

Philadblphia, PensL.

Sydney G. F'tsktr-

132

The Writer.

Publkhcd monthly by The Writer Publishing Company, aSa
Washington street, Rooms 9 and 10, Boston, Maus.

WILLIAM H. HILLS.

Editor.

%*Thb Writer is published the first day of every month.
It will be sent, post-paid, Onb Ybar for Onb Dollar.

%* AU drafts and money orders should be made payable to
The Writer Publishing Co. Stamps, or local checks, should
not be sent in payment for subscriptions.

%*Thb Writbr will be sent only to those who have paid for
it in advance. Accounts cannot be opened for subscriptions,
and names will not be entered on the list unless the subscription
order is accompanied by a remittance. When subscriptions ex-
pire the names of subscribers will be taken off the list unless an
order for renewal, accompanied by remittance, is received. Due
notice wiU be given to every subscriber of the expiration of his
•ubacription.

%* No samite copies of Thb Writbr will be sent free.

%* Everything that may be printed in the magazine will be
written expressly for it.

%* Not one line of paid advertisement will be printed in Thb
Writbr outside of the advertising pages.

*«* Advertising rates will be sent on request.

%* Contributions not used will be returned, if a stamped and
addressed envelope is enclosed.

THE WRITER PUBLISHING CO.,

aSa Washington street ( Rooms 9 and 10),

P. O. Box 1905. Boston, Mass.

Vol. VII. September, 1894. No. 9.

« «

What a difference there is between a great
book and a large book !

« «
The editor of the Congregationalist takes a
pessimistic view of the literary situation, so far
as new writers are concerned. "There is no

feature of our experience more pathetic and
disagreeable," he says, "than to deal fairly
and frankly with the young writers who appeal
to us for recognition and for compensation for
their contributions. In almost every case there
is no good warrant for the aspiration which the
would-be contributor entertains. The convic-
tion is forced upon us more strongly each year
that only the very few are able to write so as to
interest and impress the average reader of our
columns. And for the young writer to cherish
the hope that it may be possible to subsist from
the fruit of the pen is an absurd and hopeless
delusion."

It may be true that very many of those who
send manuscripts to the Congregationalist are
hopelessly incompetent, and it certainly is true
that the average young writer can have no hope
whatever of maintaining himself wholly by his
contributions to pure literature, but it is not
right for the Congregationalist to take such a
discouraging view of the possibilities in the
literary field. It is hard to see, also, why it
should be a pathetic and disagreeable task for
an editor to deal frankly and fairly with incom-
petent young writers. Most editors do not
seem to be overburdened by consideration for
the feelings of their contributors, and there is
really no reason why they should be. If a
manuscript is unavailable, an editor can usually
discover the fact with very little labor, and in
such cases the practice of the Congregationalist
is merely to return the manuscript to the sender,
accompanied by a printed slip. That experi-
ence certainly ought not to make the editor
particularly sad. He may feel sorry for his in-
competent contributor, but in the hurry and rush
of daily work, the unfortunate is inevitably soon
forgotten, and all of the editor's labor cannot be
pathetic, since there really are some able writers
who send manuscripts to the Congregationalist^
as the columns of the paper weekly show.

« «

As for the broad statement that "in almost
every case there is no warrant for the aspiration
which the would-be contributor entertains," it
seems a good deal wider than it really ought to
be. The belief of The Writer, on the con-
trary, is that the average of excellence among

The Writer.

133

beginners in writing was never so high before
as it is at the present time. Nearly everybody
writes fairly well, nowadays, and while the num-
ber of those who have transcendent literary gen-
ius may be as small as it ever was, one important
reason why beginners in writing do not meet
with better success financially is, that they have
so many fairly well qualified competitors. No
young writer, however, who writes because he
feels that he has something to say, should be
discouraged either by the number of his com-
petitors or by the doubt of financial profit. As
for writers who write because they want to say
something, the sooner they quit the better for
all concerned ; but the writers who really have
a mission ought not to be discouraged by any-
body's gloomy advice. Every famous writer
was a beginner once, and if he had not begun,
he would not be famous now. Sometimes a
beginner makes fairly good wages at the very
start. Mrs. Humphry Ward, for instance, has
published only three books, but she is said to
have made $80,000 from " David Grieve,"
$80,000 from " Marcella," and $40,000 from
"Robert Elsmere." The Writer will not
vouch for the accuracy of these statistics, but
there is no question that Mrs. Ward's work,
although she is a beginner, has been financially
very profitable to her.

«••

Of course, the average young writer cannot
reasonably hope for any such good fortune, but
if he writes because he has something to say,
and not because he wants to say something, he
has a good chance of fair remuneration for his
work. It is foolish, as the Congregationalist
says, for a young writer to hope to support him-
self wholly by literary work, but literary work
often brings a very pleasant addition to an in-
come derived regularly from some other source.
The school teacher, for instance, who makes
from $50 to $100 a year by writing for various
periodicals finds the money a useful addition to
her income, although she may now and then
give the editor of the Congregationalist a pa-
thetic and disa^eeable experience, perhaps, by
sending him a story which he doesn't like.
The work is pleasant to her, too, and, gaining
facility with practice, she may, if she has talent)

very likely increase her income from writing
until she is enabled to give up school teaching v
entirely in time. Let every beginner, then, who
has a story to tell, of whatever kind, tell his
story as well as he knows how, and try its for-
tune with the editorial guild. If he expects
fame and fortune at the start, disappointment
will probably be his fate ; but if he is reasonable
in his expectations, he has on the whole as good
a chance, perhaps, as the editor of the Congre-
gationalist himself had, in the vanished long
ago, when he began.

«*«

Some time ago attention was called to the

value of The Writer to authors as a means of
keeping informed about the important news
of the literary market Since then a letter
has been received from Albert E. Lawrence, in
which he says : —

I have found Thb Writer very helpful, and one feature I
wish to speak of particularly — that of noticing prize offers.
Through it I learned of the Neva York Observer prize offers
last winter, and the story which I submitted was given half of
the second prize money. I hope you will continue this feature
and make the most of it.

Suspensions of periodicals and changes of
address, as well as offers of prizes, are an-
nounced in The Writer, much to the advan-
tage of its readers. One subscriber writes that
the announcements of the suspension of di£Eer-
ent periodicals saved him in postage last year
several times the subscription price of the
magazine. w. h. h.

A GUIDE TO THE MS. MARKET.

A book that will become extremely useful to
the young climber on the literary ladder may
be made at home. The knowledge contained
therein may be the result of experience, or it may
be obtained from less expensive sources.

The book should be, originally, a blank-book,
with pages of generous width. It should be
divided into departments for Literary, Relig-
ious, Floral, Domestic, Agricultural, and other
publications ; and to each publication should be
allotted four or five lines.

Upon the first line in each case should be
written the name and address of the publica-
tion ; on the second, a memorandum of the style
and length of article preferred by it ; on the third,
information about the prices paid — whether

134

The Writer.

payment by word, line, column, or article, and
• when payment is made ; whether on acceptance,
on publication, monthly, quarterly, or half-
yearly ; on the fourth, notes about the general
treatment given to contributors, etc. ; the fifth
line is left blank for the addition of items of
which one may come into possession from time
to time.

The publications should be listed in their
several departments according to their merits
and literary standing.

In preparing an article for the publications
in any department, the beginner should seek to
write for the best one in the list, conforming
to its requirements, and reaching its standard,
if possible. Then, if, after a careful study of
the completed article, comparing it with those
in the publication for which it was prepared,
the writer decides that it is worthy to be sent
to that one, let it be sent there. If it is re-
turned, it may be offered to the next, and it is
quite certain — unless the author is a conceited
donkey, and has written utter trash — to find a
market before it reaches the bottom of the list.

With such a book, and by following the above
method, a writer may be saved many stamps
and much disappointment in the course of a
year. Beth Day.

South Kaukauna, Wis.

QUERIES.

( I.) If a manuscript should be declined by
Harper & Brothers, for instance, and it should
then be sent to Charles Scribner's Sons, is there
a possibility that the manuscript would be re-
ferred by them to the same Readers who had
previously examined it? In other words, do
di£Eerent publishers sometimes employ the same
manuscript Readers, or does each publisher
have his own separate corps ?

( 2. ) What do advertisement writers gener-
ally charge for short " paragraphical " advertise-
ments, sometimes written in prose and some-
times in poetry ? c. j.

[ ( I. ) There is a possibility that two succes-
sive publishers might refer a manuscript to the

same Reader for judgment, but hardly a proba-
bility that this would be so.

( 2. ) Some advertisement writers advertise
that they will write short advertisements for
fifty cents apiece. That is probably the lowest
price at which such work is done. An adver-
tising "poem "should bring from three to ten
dollars. There is no law to prevent higher
prices being asked and paid. — w. h. h.]

How can you write the following sen-
tence : —

Bemis, son of the renowned author of " Nothing," who died
in 1928, was a misogynist.

SO as to make it plain whether it was Bemis
or his father who died in 1928 ? a. o*k.

[ There is nothing ambiguous about the fol-
lowing sentence : —

Bemis, who was the son of the renowned author of " Noth-
ing," and who died in 1928, was a misogynist.

To show that the man who died was Bemis'
father, the sentence might be written : —

Bemis — the son of the renowned author of ** Nothing," who
died in 1928 — was a misogynist.

or the whole statement might be put into two
sentences, thus : —

Bemis was a misogynist. He was the son of the renowned
author of ** Nothing," who died in 1928.

Generally speaking, the easiest way out of
any such difficulty is the best, and the easiest
way to climb over a grammatical difficulty, as
our Hibernian friends might say, is frequently
to go around it. — w. h. h. ]

What is the proper way, when there is a
break in the telling of a story, to indicate to the
printer that he should leave a little space to
show it? A. R.

[The ordinary way to indicate that a blank
space should be left in a printed page is to
write in the proper place in copy in the centre
of the line : " Leave blank space," or, " One
line blank." The printer will understand either
direction well enough. — w. h. h.]

Which is right, in an obituary sketch, " He
leaves a wife," or " He leaves a widow " ?

F. R. B.

[ " He leaves a wife " is the proper phrase.
By leaving her, he makes his wife a widow. If
it is right to say, "He leaves a widow," it is
only consistent to say, "He leaves a widow and

THE WRITER.

^35

three orphans," or, in case of a wife's death,
" She leaves a widower and three orphans." —
w. H. H. ]

NEWSPAPER ENGLISH EDITED.

A copy of the little book,
so well worth possessing by
any young man, will be sent
to any address by inclosing
lo cents to the office of the
Ladies' Home Journal, Phil-
adelphia. — Ladies* Home
Journal for September.

While many were turned
back by the storm, yet about
one hundred and eighty toiled
on and reached the summit,
of whom thirty-eight were
women. — C. H. Sholes, in
Harper's Weekly.

W. R. Thayer, the editor
of the Harvard Graduates'
Magazine, gives the lecture
to the young people at the
Old South this afternoon. —
Boston Daily Advertiser.

VIGILANT AGAIN

BEATEN BY THE BRITISH
FLYER BRITANNIA.

— Boston Globe Headlines.

Of 8,000 bills brought before
Congress this year, the latter
acted upon all but 800 of
them. — Roxbury ( Mass. )
Gazette.

And yet, notwithstanding
all its vicissitudes or the bad
treatment it received at the
hands of pretended friends,
it presents vast improvement
to existing conditions. —
President Cleveland'' s Letter
to Congressman Catckings.

In the afternoon and even-
ing, with his wife and adopted
daughter, Miss Voice Acumis
Beecher, he received many
friends personally. — New
York Herald.

A copy of the little book,
so valuable to any young
man, will be sent to any one
who writes for it, enclosing
10 cents, to the office of the
Ladies'* Home Journal, Phil-
adelphia.

Although many were turned
back by the storm, about one
hundred and eighty, of whom
thirty-eight were women,
toiled on and reached the
summit.

W. R. Thayer, the editor
of the Harvard Graduates'
Magazine, will give the lec-
ture to young people at the
Old South this afternoon.

BRITANNIA AGAIN

BADLY BEATS THE YANKEE
FLYER VIGILANT.

Of 8,000 bills brought be-
fore Congress this year, all but
800 were acted on.

And yet, notwithstanding
all its vicissitudes and the
bad treatment it received at
the hands of pretended
friends, it presents a vast im-
provement upon existing
conditions.

In the afternoon and even-
ing, with his wife and his
adopted daughter, Miss Voice
Adams Beecher, he received
many friends personally.

THE SCRAP BASKET.

The necessity of using the comma after the
next to the last of three or more adjectives in
succession, when the last two are connected by
a conjunction, was pointed out by £. Lincoln

Kellogg in the July Writer. An excellent
illustration of the rule is afforded by the follow-
ing sentence, which I came across in a story
yesterday : " He was a noble fellow — wonder-
fully versatile, brave, and generous to a fault."
If you omit the comma after brave, you say
that the hero in question was brave to a fault,
which is not what the author meant. Again,
take this sentence : " For dinner he had lobster
and vinegar, and cherries, and terrapin, and
bread and milk." All the commas used are
absolutely essential, to give an accurate idea
of the tempting repast. It will be observed
that the use of " and " does not make the
commas unnecessary, a sufficient answer to the
assertion sometimes made that the comma after
the second adjective in a group of three of
which the last two are connected by " and " is
unnecessary because the " and " takes the
place of it. In cases where no ambiguity would
arise, however, as Wilson, in his *' Treatise
on Punctuation," says : " When three or more
words of the same part of speech, and in the
same construction, are severally connected by
means of * and,' * or,' or * nor,' the comma
may be omitted after each of the particulars.
Some writers separate all such serial words by
commas ; but a mode of punctuation sp stiff
as this seldom aids in developing the sense,
and, in sentences requiring other commas, is
undoubtedly offensive to the eye, if it does not
obscure the meaning itself." w. h. h.

" Besides this, none of the routes come into the heart of the
city, and so they do not afford," etc. — *' Newspaper English
Edited,''* in August Writer.

** None come " is pretty poor editing. Come
off your hypercritical perch, and learn to write
grammar before jumping on a merely careless
writer, like the one who wrote the second para-
graph, in the Chicago despatch.

David A. Curtis,

[Bigelow, in his "Mistakes in Writing Eng-
lish," says : " • None,' although literally mean-
ing *no one,' may be used with a plural verb,
having the significance of a noun of multitude."
Illustrations are : Milton's ** In at this gate
none pass the vigilance here placed " ; Proverbs
ii : 19 : " None that go unto her return again " ;
Byron's " None are so desolate, but something
dear," etc. ; Blair's " None of their productions

136

THE WRITER.

are extant"; and Young's ** None think the
great unhappy but the great." Long, in his
" Slips of Tongue and Pen," says : " * None '
and * any,' though originally singular, may now
be used as plurals." So far as Mr. Curtis'
second criticism is concerned, most of the
faults in newspaper English are due to careless-
ness. Probably the writer of the Boston
Herald editorial about the elevated railway
routes would have corrected his bad English,
if he had carefully revised his manuscript. —

w. H. H.]

Will some reader of The Writer inform
me where the following lines can be found : —

" Tell me, ye winged winds,

That around my pathway roar —
Do you know some loved spot
Where mortals weep no more ? "

G. W. S.

Chicago, 111.

BOOK REVIEWS.

Thb Novel — What It Is. By F. Marion Crawford. io8
pp. Cloth, 75 cents. New York : Macmillan & Co. 1893.

When novelists write about their art, they do
not usually give their readers much information
about their methods, but they now and then give
hints which are useful as suggestions to those
who are studying the art of story- writing. Mr.
Crawford's essay on the novel is no exception
to this rule. Perhaps, therefore, the best re-
view of it will be a selection of sentences from
it, more or less connected, giving Mr. Craw-
ford's ideas about the technique of his art.

"A novel," he says, "is a marketable com-
modity, of the class collectively termed * luxu-
ries ' — an intellectual artistic luxury. Probably
no one denies that the first object of the novel
is to amuse and interest the reader. The pur-
pose-novel constitutes a violation of the unwrit-
ten contract tacitly existing between writer and
reader. A man buys what purports to be a
work of fiction, a romance, a story of adventure,
pays his money, takes his book home, prepares
to enjoy it at his ease, and discovers that he
has paid a dollar for somebody's views on
socialism, religion, or the divorce laws. In
ordinary cases the purpose-novel is a simple
fraud, besides being a failure in nine hundred
and ninety-nine cases out of a thousand. A
professed novelist is perhaps not a competent
judge of novels from the point of view which
interests the reader, and which is, of course,
the reader's own. We know the technique
of the trick better than the effect it pro-

duces. We do not all know one another's
tricks, but we have a fair idea of the general
principle on which they are done. A novel is,
after all, a play. It is a bad sign of the times,
that persons who would not tolerate a coarse
play read novels little, if at all, short of inde-
cent. It is not always easy to see why we
novelists occasionally introduce a thought, a
page, or a chapter in a novel otherwise fit for a
child's ears, which may have the effect, so to
say, of turning weak tea into bad whiskey. Yet
most of us have done it, contemplate doing it,
or at least go so far as to wish that we might
allow ourselves the liberty. It looks as if it
might be easier to write interesting books with
the help of the knowledge of evil, as well as
with the help of the knowledge of good ; and
after a certain number of years of hard work
a novelist instinctively leans toward any method
of lightening his labors which presents itself to
his tired imagination. For the romance of
romancing soon disappears. After the produc-
tion of one, two, three, or half-a-dozen novels,
if the writer is really what we call * a profes-
sional,' and must go on writing as a business,
he discovers how serious is the occupation in
which he is engaged. Half-a-dozen books, or
less, will make a reputation; ten will sustain
one; twenty are in ordinary cases a career.
Does any one, not an author, who reads these
lines guess at the labor, the imagination, the
set purpose, the courage, which are necessary
to produce a score of novels of an average gooa
quality? And if not, how can he understand
the intense longing for a removal of restraint,
for a little more liberty, that tempts the
over-wrought intelligence into error."* The
taste for realism is broad; but why must a
novel writer be either a realist or a roT. anti-
cist? Why should a good novel not com-
bine romance and reality in just pro-
portions? The perfect novel must deal
chiefiy with love; for in that passion all men
and women are most generally interested. It
must be clean and sweet; it must have the
magic to fascinate and the power to hold its
reader from first to last. Its realism must be
real, of three dimensions, not flat and photo-
graphic ; its romance must be of the human
heart and truly human ; that is, of the earth as
we all have found it; its realism must be tran-
scendent, not measured to man's mind, but pro-
portioned to man's soul. Its religion must be
of such grand and universal span as to hold all
worthy religions in itself. Conceive, if possi-
ble, such a story, told in language that can be
now simple, now keen, now passionate, and now
sublime — or rather, pray, do not conceive it,
for the modern novelist's occupation would sud-
denly be gone, and that one book would stand
alone of its kind, making all others worse than
useless — ridiculous, if not sacrilegious, by com-

The Writer.

137

parison. . . . The novel is distinctly a modern
invention, satisfying a modern want. It is, or
ought to be, a pocket-stage. Scenery, light,
shade, the actors themselves, are made of words,
and nothing but words, more or less cleverly
put together. Every writer who has succeeded
has his own means of creating the illusion which
is eminently necessary to success. Some of us
are found out and some of us are not ; but we
all do the same thing in one way or another,
consciously or unconsciously. The tricks of
the art are without number, simple or elaborate,
easily learned or hard to imitate, and many of
us consider that we have a monopoly of certain
tricks we call our own, and are unreasonably
angry when a competitor makes use of them.
Dialect seems to me to rank with puns, and
with puns of a particular local character. Gen-
erally speaking, I venture to say that anything
which fixes the date of a novel not intended to
be historical is a mistake, from a literary point
of view. It is not wise to describe the cut of
the hero's coat, nor the draping of the heroine's
gown, the shape of her hat, nor the color of his
tie. Ten years hence somebody may buy the
book and turn up his nose at * those times.*
The historical novel occupies a position apart
and separate from others, but it does not follow
that it should not conform exactly to the condi-
tions required of an ordinary work of fiction,
though it must undoubtedly possess other quali-
ties peculiar to itself. Provided that no attempt
is made to palm off the historical novel as a
schoolbook. there can be no real objection to it
on other grounds. On the whole, the historical
novel is always likely to prove more dangerous
to the writer than to the reader, since, when it
fails to be a great book, it will in all likelihood
be an absurd one. For historical facts are limi-
tations, and he who subjects himself to them
must be willing to undertake all the responsi-
bility they imply. As for romance and realism,
the realist proposes to show men what they are ,
the romantist tries to show men what they
should be. For my part, I believe that more
good can be done by showing men what they
may be, ought to be, or can be, than by describ-
ing their greatest weaknesses with the highest
art. The education of a novelist is the experi-
ence of men and women which he has got at first
hand in the course of his own life, for he is
of that class to whom humanity ofEers a higher
interest than inanimate nature. The novel
writer must know what the living world is,
what the men in it do, and what the women
think, why women shed tears, and children
laugh, and young men make love, and old men
repeat themselves. While he is writing his
book, his human beings must be with him,
before him, moving before the eye of his mind
and talking into the ear of his heart. He must
have lived himself; he must have loved, fought.

suffered, and struggled in the human battle.
I would almost say that to describe another's
death he must himself have died. All this
accounts, perhaps, for the fact that readers are
many and writers few. The writer must have
seen and known many phases of existence, and
this is what the education of the novelist means :
to know and understand, so far as he is able,
men and women who have been placed in un-
usual circumstances. Sentiment heightens the
value of works of fiction, as sentimentality low-
ers it. Sentimentality is to sentiment as sen-
suality to passion. The deep waters of life the
real novel must fathom, sounding the tide-
stream of passion, and bringing up such treas-
ures as lie far below and out of sight — out of
reach of the individual in most cases — until
the art of the story-teller makes them feel that
they are, or might be, his. Caesar commanded
his legionaries to strike at the face. Human-
ity, the novelist's master, bids him strike only
at the heart."

Of course, such an abstract as this can ^ive
but an imperfect idea of what Mr. Crawford
says. His essay as a whole is well worth read-
ing, w. H. H.

Marcblla. By Mr«. Humphry Ward. Vol. I., 447 pp.
Vol. II., 498 pp. Cloth, io box, $a.oo. New York : Nlac-
millan & Co. 1894.

A life-like photogravure picture of Mrs.
Ward and a fac-simile of her signature, " Mary
A. Ward," make a frontispiece for the two
volumes of her latest novel. The story itself
is confessedly a purpose novel, and so falls in
the class which Mr. Crawford has condemned so
strongly, but even Mr. Crawford must admit
that " Marcella " is a strong, consistent, artistic
piece of work, and that the interest of the story
is not overburdened by the development of the
author's theory of life. The book deals with
life problems, but it is not insufferably didactic,
and its teaching is indirect rather than obtru-
sive. The character drawing is admirable, the
personality of Marcella Boyce especially being
as clear and vivid as that of any living person-
age. There is no question that' " Marcella " is
the best piece of work that Mrs. Ward has
done. w. h. h.

Fra Paolo Sarpi. By Rev. Alexander Robertson. 196 pp.
Cloth, $1.50. New York: Thomas Whittaker. 1894.

The body of Fra Paolo Sarpi, whom Mr.
Robertson styles "the greatest of the Vene-
tians," has at last found an honored resting-
place in the church of the quiet Campo Santo,
on the island of San Michele, after being for
more than two hundred years transferred from
place to place, " built up into walls and altars,
concealed in private houses, and surreptitiously
introduced in boxes, * contents unknown,' into
seminaries and libraries, to hide it from the
wolf-like hunt of its enemies." To be the ob-

138

The Writer.

ject of such persecution after he is dead, a man
must have had some strong personal qualities
while he was alive, and it does not seem ex-
travagant, therefore, for Mr. Robertson to claim
for his hero preeminence among Venetians. ** I
agree with Mrs. Oliphant," he says, " that Fra
Paolo is a * personage more grave and great, a
figure unique in the midst of this ever
animated, strong, stormy, and restless race ' ;
and with Lord Macaulay, who has said
of him that what he did he did better than
anybody. I believe that it is impossible to
produce from the long roll of the mighty sons
of Venice one name to be placed above, or
even to be set beside, his. He was supreme
as a thinker, as a man of action, and as a
transcript and pattern of every Christian prin-
ciple." Mr. Robertson goes on to show that
Fra Paolo was preeminent as an astronomer
and mathematician ; that he divides with Dr.
Harvey the honor of having discovered the
circulation of the blood, and that he was recog-
nized as a leader among magneticians and
metaphysicians ; while as a statesman he
wielded a vast influence in the Venice of three
hundred years ago. Mr. Robertson's book was
written during a residence in Venice, so that
he was able to draw his facts from original
sources in books and manuscripts. The inter-
est of his work is heightened by a portrait of
Fra Paolo and a fac-simile of a letter written
by his hand. w. h. h.

Instructor in Practical Court Reporting. By H. W.
Thome. 237 pp. Cloth, $1.00. Cincinnati: Phonographic
Institute Co. 1894.

Mr. Thome's ** Instructor in Practical Court
Reporting" is intended primarily for stenogra-
phers : incidentally for trial lawyers and law
students. Its author is a member of the Fulton
County ( N. Y.)bar, and an official court ste-
nographer. His aim has been to present to the
stenographer every important phase of court
reporting, to show and explain the methods
generally used in doing it, and to describe the
nature and meaning of the various features of a
trial. The book is evidently the outcome of
long practical experience, and as such has
great value for all would-be court stenographers,
while to the general reader it is interesting be-
cause it gives an excellent idea of court pro-
cedure, w. H. H.

Tennyson : His Art and Relation to Modern Life.
By Stopford A. Brooke. 516 pp. Qoth, $2.00. New York :
G. P. Putnam's Sons. 1894.

As its title implies, Mr. Brooke's work is
something more than a study of Tennyson's
poems from a literary point of view: it dis-
cusses the poet as an artist, his relation to
Christianity and his relation to social politics,
as well as the literary qualities of his work.
The chief part of the book is given to a critical
study of Tennnyson's writings, under the head-

ings, "The Poems of 1830," "The Poems of
1833." "The Poems of 1842," "The Classical
and Romantic Poems of 1842, with the Later
Classical Poems," "The Princess," "InMe-
moriam," " Maud and the War Poems," " Idylls
of the King," "Enoch Arden and the Sea
Poetry," "Aylmer's Field, Sea Dreams, The
Brook," "The Dramatic Monologues," "Spec-
ulative Theology," " The Nature Poetry," and
"The Later Poems." Mr. Brooke has been a
thoughtful and appreciative student of Tenny-
son, and his analysis of the poet's work is
discriminating and full of interest. No lover
of poetry can fail to be attracted by the book.

w. H. H.

The Search for Andrew Field. By Everett T. Tomlinson.
Illustrated. 313 pp> Cloth, $1.50. Boston: Lee & Shep*
ard. 1894.

"The Search for Andrew Field" is a boys'
story, based on events of the war of 1812. The
object of the author is to give young people an
insight into the conditions of the times of 181 2,
a history of the war, and a glimpse at the re-
sults attained. He does this in a capital story,
full of life, spirit, and adventure, which imparts
much historical information and inculcates les-
sons of manliness and courage, while it is sure
to entertain the youthful reader. The book is
the first of The War of 1812 Series, which will
take its heroes through the various battles of
the war on land and sea. w. h. h.

Mother, Will, AND I. By Milton Coit. 390 pp. Paper, 50
cents. Boston: Arena Publishing Company. 1894.

" Mother, Will, and I," according to the
author's introduction, is "a true story, told for
the purpose of making public the process by
which the possible future destroyers of society
are now being created." The injustice of the
existing social system is its theme, and the
chief evils of modern life are attributed to their
first cause in what the author styles those
enemies of humankind, the rich conspirators,
who, influenced by self-interest, are engaged in
money-getting schemes, the success of which
means disaster and misery to hundreds and
thousands of their fellow-men. Depicting at
the outset two high-minded, philanthropic
young men, the author goes on to show how
one of them in particular had his
whole nature changed by the results
of the Standard Oil deal and the panic
of ' 73, which reduced his father, an honorable
man, to poverty, and compelled his delicate,
refined, and sensitive mother to suffer from
hard work and deprivation until death at last
ended all her wretchedness. To combat this
social injustice, the young man, after a hard
struggle in ordinary lines, sees no way but to
begin an organized secret plotting against capi-
talists, starting with individual robberies skil-
fully planned and ending by organizing a band

The Writer.

139

of robbers and murderers, of which he is the
leading spirit. The Western train robberies
during the fall of 1893, the author says, were
committed by this band. All the money secured
was turned into a fund to be used to help vic-
tims of social injustice. The author describes
vividly the organization and operations of this
society, as well as the causes which led to its
formation. The purpose of the story is to show
that ** the same e£Eort and enthusiasm spent in
hopeless violence against society, if devoted to
the new ideal in harmony with law, might have
organized a new political party capable of an
ideal social reconstruction." The tale is cer-
tainly a powerful one, and its novelty and its
strength of purpose alike recommend it to the
reader. w. h. h.

First Coursb in thb Study of German, According to
THE Natural Method. With special regard to the in-
struction of children. By Otto Heller. Second edition,
with vocabulary. 92 pp. Qoth, 50 cents. Philadelphia :
I. Kohler. 1894.

The fact that Professor Heller's little book
has reached its second edition is good evidence
of its usefulness. It is simple, plain, and
practical, and will help any one who is acquir-
ing a practical knowledge of the German lan-
guage, w. H. H.

Sir Francis Bacon's Cipher Story. Discovered and
deciphered by Orville W. Owen, M. D. Book III. 148 pp.
Paper, 50 cents. Detroit : Howard Publishing Company.

Part III. of Dr. Owen's "cipher story" is
much better-looking t)rpoeraphically than either
of the preceding parts. It is dedicated to Mrs.
E. W. Gallup, Miss K. E. Wells, and Miss
O. E. Wheeler, ** in acknowledgment of their
valuable assistance in deciphering, by the rules
of the cipher, volumes II. and III. of the cipher
story." The volume completes ** Bacon's "
account of the Spanish Armada, which is said
to be '* deciphered mostly from the Shake-
spearian plays and from the * Faery Queene,'
but portions are found in the works of Peel,
Greene, Marlowe, Burton, and Bacon." Dr.
Owen still postpones giving any explanation of
the methods of his work. Until he does some-
thing of the sort, his books will have little
value. w. H. H.

Teutonic Switzerland. By W. D. McCrackan, M. A. 315
pp. Cloth, 75 cents. Boston : Joseph Knight Co. 1894.

Romance Switzerland. By W. D. McCrackan, M. A. 270
pp. Cloth, 75 cents. Boston : Joseph Knight Co. 1894.

Mr. McCrackan's publishers have issued in
two attractive little volumes his impressions of
Switzerland, together with some account of
Swiss legends and traditions and of the emi-
nent men and women who have lived within the
borders of the mountainous republic. The
book is not a guide book in any sense, but it is
admirably adapted for a companion during a
trip through Switzerland or for home reading
by those wno can travel only in imagination and

by their firesides. As the historian of *'The
Rise of the Swiss Republic," the author is a
recognized authority on Switzerland, and his
book is written in a pleasant, lively, and agreea-
ble style. w. H. H.

Wilson's CvCLOPiEDic Photography. By Edward L. Wil-
son, Ph. D. 453 pp. Cloth, $4.00. New York : Edward
L. Wilson. 1894.

" Wilson's Cyclopaedic Photography " is a
complete handbook of the terms, processes,
formulae, and appliances employed in photog-
raphy, arranged in dictionary form for ready
reference. The compiler has been for many
years an authority on all photographic matters,
and his other works on photographic subjects
are well and favorably known. This new work
contains more than 2,500 references, and is un-
doubtedly the most comprehensive photographic
reference book available for English readers.
The object of the compiler throughout has been
to make his book simple, clear, concise, and
practical, to enable the beginner as well as the
expert to use it with profit. He has succeeded
admirably in his undertaking, and his work
takes its place at once as the standard English
photographic dictionary. In his preface Mr.
Wilson says : " I have drawn from a thousand
authors. I have filtered and reduced as care-
fully as my judgment would allow, and I have
no doubt I could do better should I begin at
once and do it all over again. I commend it to
the craft as it is, however, with the full knowl-
edge that in a work like this, including such a
multiplicity of subjects, kind indulgence must
be asked for the numerous errors that even the
most painstaking care must have overlooked."

w. H. H.

Old English Ballads. Selected and edited by Francis B.
Gummere. 380 pp. Cloth, $1.05. Boston : Ginn & Co.
1894.

Professor Gummere's collection of old Eng-
lish ballads is made more interesting by an ex-
haustive introduction, full explanatory notes,
and a glossary. The ballads themselves are
representative in range and quality, and have
been well selected by the editor. The Athe-
naeum Press Series, to which tl;e book belongs,
is intended to furnish a library of the best Eng-
lish literature from Chaucer to the present time
in a form adapted to the needs of both the stu-
dent and the general reader. w. h. h.

BOOKS RECEIVED.

[ All books sent to the editor of Thb Writer will be ac-
knowledged under this heading. They will receive such further
notice as may be warranted by their importance to readers of
the magazine.]

A History of thb United States, By Allen C. Thomas,
A. M. 410 and Ixxii. pp. Half leather, $1.25. Boston :
D. C. Heath & Co. 1894.

140

The Writer.

A Modern RosAUND. By Edith Carpenter. 251 PP- Paper,
50 cents. Chicago : Rand, McNally, & Co. 1894.

The Red Sultan. By J. Madaren Cobban. 313 pp. Paper,
50 cents. Chicago: Rand, McNally, & Co. 1894.

Magdalena. By Perpetuo Ponslevi. 270 pp. Paper, as
cents. Chicago : Rand, McNally, & Co. 1894.

Thy Name is Woman. By Olive B. Muir. 320 pp. Pa[)er,
50 cents. New York : G. W. Dillingham. 1894.

HELPFUL HINTS ANDSUGGESTIONS.

A Magazine Pile. — I have a file which I
had made for magazines, consisting of a series
of shelves, and employed peculiarly in my own
case. Every writer would find such a case a
valuable adjunct to work of a general literary
character. It is made of three ten-inch-wide
boards ( whitewood stained ), with top, bottom,
and back covered in by others ( which may be
cheap pine) in such a way as to leave room for
two tiers of shelves six feet high, with compart-
ments large enough to accommodate the larger
magazines. Light cleats are nailed in place
with wire nails to hold the shelf-boards. The
shelves are of basswood, and are simply laid on
these cleats. By removing one of the shelves
two spaces may be thrown into one, perhaps to
fit the growing requirements of some particular
journal. There are fourteen such spaces on
each side of the centre-board in my case, mak-
ing twenty-eight spaces in all, — each 10x14x5
inches, — wherein may be filed specimen copies
of twenty-eight papers or magazines of large
size, or double the number of small ones. I
advocate preserving such a collection of jour-
nals, with information as to date of publication,
" press " day, office address, and any other fact
desirable to know. Suppose it is the tenth day
of the month. My magazine file shows me at a
glance which publications are " available " for
contributions, as regards the chance of catch-
ing each paper before its next issue. The num-
ber is limited — my field of work for the day
has been indicated. From the number of
papers which might use my matter soon, as
thus indicated, I select one and look over it for
ideas as to what might be acceptable. I am of
those who desire to see the special need of their
work before setting about it; for then I am
supplied with an impulse, and can work to the
end of exactly shading my writing to the re-
quirements before me — the audience I am

seeking to please, entertain, or instruct. I find
the rack I have described so useful to me in
this way that I think it well to call attention to
the plan. C. S. Wady.

SOMBKVILLB, MaSS.

Note-making on Book-covers. — Has it ever
occurred to any reader of The Writer to
make use of a book-cover as a note-book ? I
always like to index the books I read, to keep
track of suggestions and side paths which are
not always put in a book which has a published
index. I therefore have to take notes as I read.
But often I do my reading on verandas and in
hammocks, and it is not always convenient to
have a paper at hand on which to writ^; then
the summer breezes are apt to make sad havoc
with anything that is ot light weight. But a
note-book is very clumsy. I have long been in
the habit of covering the books I read with
ordinary manila paper, and when I find a refer-
ence — say to Cowley, or to the subject of art
viewed in its moral relations, anything, in fact,
which is not put in the general index — I simply
turn my book over and write the references
into my ** Library Key." I should never have
thought of mentioning this very simple con-
venience had not one of the professors in the
university here said in one of our talks that he
thought the idea an excellent one, and that he
should never have thought of it. He intends to
adopt it henceforth. Kenyon West

Rochester, N. Y.

LITERARY ARTICLES IN PERIODICALS. ^

[The publisher of The Writer will send to any address a
eopy of any magazine mentioned in the following reference Uat
on receipt of the amount given in parenthesis following the name
— the amount being in each case the price of the periodical,
with tkre* cents postage culded. Unless a price is given, the
periodical must be ordered from the publication office. Readera
who send to the publishers of the periodicads indexed for oopU»
containing the articles mentioned in the list will confer a favor
if they will mention The Writer when they write.]

Addison, the Humorist. With portrait. M. O. W. Oli-
phant. Century ( 38 c. ) for September.

PoE IN Philadelphia. Letters from Poe, Burton, Irving,
Willis, and Dickens, edited by G. E. Woodberry. Cenimy
( 38 c. ) for September.

Recollections. Aubrey De Vere. Century (38 c ) for
September.

Macaulay's Place in Literature. Frederic Harriaoo.
Forum ( 28 c. ) for September.

The Writer.

141

Thb Cosmopolitan's New Homb. Illustrated. Cosmo-
/ditan ( 18 c. ) for September.

Early Journalism IN San Franqsco . J. M. Scanland.
Overland Monthly ( 28 c. ) for September.

Talks with thb Trade: Writers and Typewriters.
Li^incotfs ( a8 c. ) for September.

Headlines. W. T. Lamed. Lippincotfs (28 c. ) for
September.

The Evolution op the Heroine. H. H. Boyesen.
Li^pincoifs (28 c. } for September.

A Third Shelf op Old Books. Mrs. James T. Fields.
Scribner's ( 38 c. ) for September.

The Origin op " Thanatopsis.'* John White Chadwick.
Harper's Mag^azine (38 c. ) for September.

George du Maurier as an Author. Charles Dudley
Warner. Editor's study. Harper's Magmas me (38 c.) for
September.

A Dramatic Reaust to His Critics. G. Bernard Shaw.
Reprinted from New Review In Eclectic (48 c. ) for Septem •
ber.

The Fourth Estate. Reprinted from Gentleman*s
Magaaine in Eclectic ( 48 c. } for September.

Dante and Tennyson. Francis St. John Thackeray.
Reprinted from Temple Bar in Eclectic (48 c. ) for Septem-
ber.

The Novelist in Shakespeare. Hall Caine. Reprinted
from New Review in Eclectic ( 48 c. ) for September.

My First Book, "Treasure Island." Robert Louis
Stevenson. McClure*s Magazine ( 18 c. ) for September .

The Religion op Walt Whitman's Poems. Rev. M.
J. Savage. Arena (53 c. ) for September.

Charlotte M. Yongb. With portrait. Frederick Dol-
man. Ladies^ Home Journal ( 13 c ) for September.

My Literary Passions. William Dean Howells. Ladies *
Home Journal ( 13 c. ) for September.

In Dbpbnce op Harriet Shelley. — III. North Ameri-
can Review ( 53 c. ) for September.

A Reading in the Letters op John Keats. Lena H.
Vincent. A tlatdic Monthly (38 c.} for September.

Wiluam Ellery Channing. Chicago Magazine for July.

Recollections op Artbmus Ward. — II. John L. Cam-
cross. To-day for August.

PoE IN THE South. Letters of Edgar Allan Poe, John P.
Kennedy, J. K. Paulding, Beverly Tucker, and others. With
introduction and editorial notes by George E. Woodbury.
Century ( 38 c. ) for August.

Convcrsation IN France, lli. Bentzon. Century ( 38c. )
for August.

Four Women Writers op the West ( Ina D. Coolbrith,
OcUve Thanet, Charles Egbert Craddock, and Edith M.
Thomas). With portraits. Mary J. Reid. Overland Monthly
( 28 c ) for August.

Curb for Dialect English in Foreign Countries.
Eliza B. Burney. Arena ( 53 c. ) for August.

An Episode in Turgenibf's Lipb. Nathan Haskell Dole.
Arena ( 53 c. ) for August.

In Defence op Harriet Shelley. — II. Mark Twain.
North American Review ( 53 c. ) for August.

My Contsmporaribs. Jules Qaretie. North American
Review ( 53 c. ) for August.

The Lovbs of Edgar A. Poe. Eugene L. Didier.
Godey*t ( 13 c. ) for August.

The Photography of Colors. Lazare Weiller. Popu-
lar Science Monthly (53 c. ) for August.

Photography as Applied to Process Work. Leslie E.
Qift. Wilson^ s Photographic Magazine ( 33 c ) for August.

Dante and Tennyson. F. St. John Thackeray. Re-
printed from Temple Bar in LitteWs Living Age (31 c. >
for August 4.

The Poetry op Robert Bridges. Edward Dowden.
Reprinted from Fortnightly Review in LOtelPs Livit^ Age
(21 c. ) f or August 25.

Wood Engraving as a Life Occupation. Harper's
Young People (8 c. ) for July 31.

Transmitting a Cablegram. Henry C. Holmes. Har-
per's Young People ( 8 c. > for August 28.

How TO Write a Newspapkr Article. Edwin L.
Shuman. Journalist (13 c. ) for August 18.

Personal Recollections op Longfellow. Justin Mc-
Carthy. YoutVs Companion ( 8 c. ) for August 2.

Local Jealousy in Literature. Youth^s iCompanion
(8c.) for August 16.

Death of an Old Editor (George Rex Graham).
Harper's Weekly ( 13 c. ) for August 4.

The Late Jambs Strong, S. T. D., LL. D. With portrait.
Harper's Weekly ( 13 c. ) for August 18.

Rev. Henry M. Field, D. D. With portrait. Printers*
Ink (8c.) for August i.

R. H. Stoddard at 69. Reprinted from New York Sun
in Rochester Union and Advertiser for July 21.

The Newspaper Hbadmakbr. New Haven Register for
July 25.

Ouida's Riches Gone. Gloucester ( Mass. ) Breeze for
July 28.

Georgia's Writers. Atlanta Constitution for July 29.

Walter Pater. New York Sun for July 31.

Literary TENOBNaBS. Alice Wellington Rollins. Chris-
tian Register for August 2.

Charles Dana Gibson. With portrait. Town Topics for
August 2.

Sarah Grand at Home. Jcannette Hale. Detroit Free
Press for August 3.

George du Maurier. Reprinted from Boston Transcript
In St. Louis Globe-Democrat for August 4.

Maurice Jokai. With portrait. Outlook for August 4.

Mrs. Kate M. Bostwick. Boston Commonwealth for
August 4.

Wiluam Morris. Boston Transcript for August 4.

My First Book, "Treasure Island." Robert Louis
Stevenson. Indianapolis Journal ( 10 c. ) for August 4 ; Syra-
cuse Sunday Herald^ Louisville Courier-Journal^ Denver
Republican^ San Francisco Examiner^ New York Sun, for
August 5 ; Jacksonville Citizen for August 7.

The Rise op Henry Harland. Arthur Stedman. Boston
Herald, Galveston News, for August 5 ; Burlington Hawkeye
for August 7.

Walter Pater. Carleton E. Noyes. Boston Budget for
August 5.

Sensational Story Writers. Reprinted from New York
Morning Journal in Detroit Journal for August 6.

Mrs. Cblia Parker Woollby. New York Times for
August 6.

Robert Louis Stevenson's Home in Samoa. Reprinted
from Comhill Magazine in New York Home Journal for
August 8.

Errors of Authors. Reprinted from St. Louis Globe-
Democrat in Columbus ( O. ) Dispatch for August 9.

Writing Canada's History. Montreal Gazette V^-^.
August 9.

(42

The Writer,

Katherinb Tynan-Hinkson. M. J. Murphy. Boston
Republic for August ii.

Literary Homes on Long Island. Arthur Stedman.
Baltimore Herald, Boston Herald^ Bimting^hant A^e-Herald,
for August 12.

Gilbert Parker. Dulutk News-Tribune for August la.

How Some Famous Authors Began Their Careers.
Mae Harris Andrews. Reprinted from Washington Post in
Kansas City Times for August 12.

Walter Pater. "G. W. S." New York Tribune for
August 12.

Dr. W. T. Harris. With portrait. Confregationalist for
August 16.

The Bryant Centenary. ( Full report. ) Springfield
Republican for August 17.

Woman in Journausm. Indianapolis ATirtvj for August 18.

Authors as Diplomats. Reprinted from Philadelphia
Times in New Haven Register lor August 19.

Trying to Sell A Play. Grace Murray. Boston Journal
for August ig.

Women with Masculine Pen Names. Boston Journal
for August 19.

The Birthplace of Lindlby Murray. Philadelphia
Times for August 19.

Fanny Crosby, the Hymn-writer. New York Adver-
tiser for August 19.

Poets of Cincinnati. Cincinnati Tribune for August 19.

Cincinnati Authors. Cincinnati Commercial Gazette
ior August 19.

Francis H. Underwood. Arthur Warren. Boston Herald
for August 20.

Oliver Wendell Holmes. Julia Ward Howe. Golden
Rule ( Boston ) for August 23.

NEWS AND NOTES.

Kate Chopin, a sketch of whom was published
in the August Writer, has a successful story,
" Tante CatVinette," in the Atlantic Monthly
for September. The article, " A Reading in
the Letters of John Keats," by Leon H. Vin-
cent in the same number throws a good deal of
light on the much discussed character of the
poet.

Owen Wister has in Harper* s Magazine for
September a vivid story, " The General's BlufE,"
founded on a frontier campaign of General
Crook. He will have in the October number
" Salvation Gap," a story of an old-time lynch-
ing incident in the Southwest.

" Captain Molly," a novel by Mrs. Mary A.
Denison, author of " That Husband of Mine,"
appears in the September number of Lippin-
^otfs Magazine*

Julian Ralph is now on his way to the Orient,
where he will make for Harper'' s Weekly and
Harper's Magazine studies of the disturbed
'Conditions now existing there.

Richard Harding Davis returned from Europe
August 3.

Mrs. Everard Cotes (Sara Jeannette Dun-
can ) has left her former home in Calcutta, and
is spending the summer at Oxford, Eng.

F. Marion Crawford has returned to Rome,
having been in the United States for about a
year. The statement is made that during his
twelve-months' stay in the United States he has
written ten novels and, a number of magazine
articles. His purpose in coming here was to
secure congressional action on a claim of his
deceased father-in-law. General Berdan, against
the government, for $100,000. Mr. Crawford
will return again to the United States to urge
this claim.

John Fox, whose "Cumberland Vendetta"
has interested Century readers for the past
three months, is a young lumber dealer of
Louisville, Ky.

To the list of artist-authors of to-day given in
The Writer for August, viz., G. H. Bough-
ton, George Du Maurier, Frederick Reming-
ton, F. Hopkinson Smith, F. S. Church, W.
Hamilton Gibson, Mr. Zogbaum, and Alfred
Parsons, the Independent adds the names of
W. W. Story, F. D. Millet, Mary Hallock
Foote, Howard Pyle, W. J. Linton, Joseph
Pennell, George Wharton Edwards, and other
names that appear less often, but occasionally
in the magazines, such as George Hitchcock,
Will H. Low, E. H. Blashiield, Birge Harrison,
Edwin Lord Weeks, John La Farge, Robert
Blum, Charles S. Reinhart, and that friend of
children, Palmer Cox.

The club of London women which began life
as " The Literary Ladies " has changed its
name to ** The Women Writers."

The New England Kitchen Magazine is a
new Boston monthly, the aim of which is to
form a connecting link between home and school
kitchens. Mrs. Estelle M. H. Merrill ("Jean
Kincaid") and Miss Anna Barrows are the
editors.

The management of Godey's Magazine hsL&
undergone another change. John W. Lovell,
the publisher, has bought an interest and has
been elected secretary and treasurer.

The Writer.

143

The Magazine of American History^ which
ivas founded by the late Mrs. Lamb and which
was prosperous until her death, is to be revived
"by the Patriot Publishing Company, publication
being resumed with the September number.

The American Agriculturist is going to be
<:hanged into a series of five weeklies for five
diflEerent parts of the country, and five sub-
editions for di£Eerent parts of those divisions.
The Orange Judd company has bought the
•New England Homestead from the Phelps
company, and will use that for its New England
edition. It has also bought the Orange
Judd Farmer^ of Chicago. The new weeklies
will all be of magazine form, each with thirty-
two pages and a cover. The Phelps company
will continue to publish Farm and Home and
the city edition of the Springfield Homestead,

The twelve papers published by E. C. Allen
& Co., the large Augusts ( Me. ) publishing con-
cern which recently suspended business, will
be consolidated into the following five periodi-
cals formerly issued by Allen & Co. : Sunshine,
Golden Moments , the Practical Housekeeper,
the National Farmer, and the Daughters of
America. They will be printed, mailed, and
sent out from the publishing establishment of
W. H. Gannett, under the name of S. W. Lane
& Co. The first issue will be that of Sep-
tember.

Mrs. James T. Fields has in Scribner's Maga-
zine for September a chapter of entertaining
literary reminiscences, suggested by books in
the library of Mr. Fields, the publisher. This
paper refers to Milton, Johnson, Thackeray,
Lamb, and Barry Cornwall, and is fully illus-
trated with portraits, fac-similes, etc.

" Thanatopsis " has been called the greatest
poem ever written by a boy of sixteen, and it is
interesting also as the first American poem
which has received and retained recognition
from the critics. The influences that shaped
the poem in Bryant's mind are described in
Harper* s Magazine for September by Rev.
John W. Chadwick, and the story is illustrated
with two engravings of the bust of Bryant in
the possession of Parke Godwin, and by a view
of the house in which " Thanatopsis " was
written.

The Magazine of Art for September has a
wood-engraved portrait of Alphonse Daudet,
after the painting by M. Carri^re, and a sketch
by M. H. Spielmann of Phil May, the humorist
illustrator, with a portrait and six illustrations
of his work by Mr. May himself.

Portraits of Louise Chandler Moulton in
early life, at forty-one, at forty-five, and at fifty-
nine are given in McClure's Magazine for
August. Mrs. Moulton was born at Pomfret,
Conn., April 5, 1835. She was married in 1855
to William A. Moulton, a Boston publisher, and
Boston has ever since then been her home.

Mr. Bcresford-Hope has sold the London
Saturday Review, which has been for almost
forty-six years in the Hope family. Walter
Pollock retires from the editorship. The pur-
chaser is L. H. Edmunds, a barrister, who will
edit the review himself, and who will not change
its policy.

Robert Louis Stevenson tells in McClure's
Magazine for September how he came to write
" Treasure Island," and under what conditions
and how the work was done. Pictures of the
houses and scenes he inhabited while writing
it, and some interesting portraits accompany
the article. In the same number of the maga-
zine is a series of portraits of Victorien Sardou.

The marriage of J. M. Barrie to Miss Mary
AnscU, the actress, took place at Kirremuir
toward the end of July so quietly that outsiders
knew nothing about it until long after the wed-
ding day.

Dr. Holmes observed his eighty-fifth birth-
day August 28.

The Magazine of Poetry (BufEalo) for
August has portraits and sketches of Edward
Sanford Martin, Rossiter Johnson, William
Lyle, and other less-known writers.

The Lippincotts announce a volume called
"My First Book," and including the experiences
of Walter Besant, James Payn, and twenty
other well-known novelists. It will be edited
by Jerome K. Jerome, and profusely illustrated.

Macmillan & Co. announce that E. J. Sim-
cox, the author of " Primitive Civilization," is
a woman, the initial E. on the title page stand-
ing for Edith.

144

The Writer.

Public Opinion has sent out an attractive
plate containing the portraits of more than fifty
of its principal contributors — nearly all of
them being men now prominent in American
letters.

B. L. Farjeon, the English novelist, will
shortly publish in London some of the literary
work of his thirteen-year-old daughter Nellie.

Mr. Quiller-Couch, like Mr. Howells, believes
more in hard work than in the impulses of
genius. " When I am writing a story," he says,
" I never do more than i,ooo words a day, and
sometimes it may not be more than 1 50 words.
I always devote the mornings to work, whether
the result is 1,000 words or only a couple of
sentences. I do not believe in waiting for in-
spiration ; the effort must be made."

The Century Company will publish in Octo-
ber, as a companion volume to their Century
Dictionary, "The Century Cyclopaedia of
Names," a pronouncing and etymological dic-
tionary of names in geography, biography,
mythology, history, ethnology, art, archaeology,
fiction, etc., making a single volume of 1,100
pages, uniform in size and typography with the
Century Dictionary. This will be the first book
of its kind in existence.

The following card is published in the Lon-
don papers : " A prize of ;^2o will be given for
the best original essay on the advantages to be
derived from the establishment of a sound
democratic republic in the United Kingdom.
For conditions send stamped envelope to the
Eleusis Club, London."

The whole field of English poetry, from 1837
to the present time, will be included in £.
C. Stedman's "Victorian Anthology," which
Houghton, Mifflin, & Co. will publish soon.

Ouida has been having a hard time of it since
her late financial troubles and the forced sale of
her belongings. At last she is once more at
rest, having found a new home for herself in the
Villa Masoni, at St. Alissio, near Lucca.

The manuscript Ruskin turns out is as dirty
and scratched up as the manuscript of Scott
was clean and neat There is hardly a para-
graph in Ruskin*s copy that is not scratched
and interlined, while a scratched out or rewrit-
ten word in Spott*s copy was the exception.

George Moore is going to cut down his novel,
" A Mere Accident," into a short story. Rarely
is a book so radically changed after having
been published. The author is not dissatisfied
with "A Mere Accident" as it is, but wishes
to include it in a volume of short stories.

Rolf Boldrewood, the Australian novelist, is
in real life a police magistrate, and his every-
day name is T. A. Browne. He is sixty-eight
years old, and says he was thirty-seven years of
age before he first thought of the possibility of
success in literature.

The statement of the affairs of Robert
Buchanan, author and dramatist, has just been
issued. The debtor has filed accounts showing
unsecured liabilities of about $75,500, and no
available assets. He states that his income,
derived from royalties and general literary
work, has during the last three years averaged
about $7,500 a year. He attributes his insol-
vency to losses and liabilities incurred in con-
nection with theatrical speculations ; to heavy
interest on borrowed money ; to loss by non-
production of a play ("Dick Sheridan") in
America, and by adverse criticisms on his dra-
matic work; and to losses by betting.

The unnamed author of the humorous
" Women's Conquest of New York " is Thomas
A. Janvier. Mr. Janvier recently sailed for
Europe, to be gone several months.

Paul du Chaillu is writing the history of the
Viking voyages from 800 to the time of William
the Conqueror.

Francis H. Underwood died at Leith, Scot-
land, August 7, aged sixty-nine.

Dr. James Strong died at Round Lake,
N. Y., August 7, aged nearly seventy-two.

Eugene Lawrence died in New York August
17, aged nearly seventy-one.

Ex-Governor Charles Robinson, of Kansas,
died at Lawrence, Kan., August 17, aged
seventy-seven.

Mrs. Celia Thaxter died August 26 at the
Isles of Shoals, aged fifty-nine.

W. D. Howells was recalled from his vaca-
tion in Europe by the illness of his father,
Hon. W. C. Howells, who died at Jefferson, O.,
August 28, aged eighty-eight.

The

Writer:

A MONTHLY MAGAZINE TO INTEREST AND HELP ALL LITERARY WORKERS.

Vol. VII.

BOSTON, OCTOBER, 1894.

No. 10.

Entered at the Boston Post^ffice as second-class mail matter.

CONTENTS : pagb

New Systbm of Filing Clippings. H^. Hull Wtstem. 145
Mors iNCONSisTBNass of Illustration. Edward B.

Warman 146

Thb Hbrboity of Fiction. M. Sheffey-Ptters. . . .147

Thb Critic MaxA.Sttinlt . . 148

A. CRiTiasM OF •* Trilby." Eliot C. True 149

Plaong Manuscripts. Robert Shore 150

Onb Sidb of a Writer's Corrbspondbncb. Maym*

laham 151

Editorial. 153

One of the Curiositiea of Book-reviewing, 153— A

Literary Swindler's Frank Confession 153

QUBRIBS. 153

Thb Scrap Baskbt 154

Nbwspapbr Engush Editbd 156

Book Rbvibws 156

Hblpful Hints and Suggestions. 158

When Your Madlage Gives Out 158

Literary Articles in Periodicals 158

News and Notes 159

NEW SYSTEM OF FILING CLIPPINGS.

A New York engineer of my acquaintance
has made a simple solution of the difficulty
generally encountered in collecting and classify-
ing clippings conveniently, so they may be
readily got at for reference.

He has a specially designed cabinet, which
consists of one large drawer extending over
two-thirds of the width of the cabinet, and
labelled, ** Miscellaneous Scraps *' ; another
drawer of the same depth and width underneath
the first, for a "Stock Drawer"; and two
shelves for a series of scrap books. A number
of smaller drawers of uniform size occupy the
other one-third of the cabinet at one end.

In clipping, the scraps are thrown as they are
cut into the large "Miscellaneous Scraps"
drawer, from which they are assorted at leisure
and placed in the series of smaller drawers,
each under its proper head. There are as

many of these drawers as there are subjects to
be covered.

A drawer at a time is then taken in hand,
and the clippings therein are trimmed to a
minimum size, and pasted upon sheets of paper,
perforated on one edge, and of uniform size.

The clippings, of course, are pasted only
upon one side of the sheet, with the date and
name of the publication from which they are
taken attached. When there is a sufficient num-
ber of these sheets, they are assembled in proper
order, in the form of a scrap book, with covers
(being held together with metal fastenings or
thread ), and these are put upon the shelves of
the cabinet, ready for convenient reference.
By this system it will be noticed that at no time
are the clippings in any form in which they
cannot be readily found, neither is there any
time when the books may not be re-arranged.
For this reason, it is found better not to page
the books.

The size of the sheets used in making up the
books is optional with the user. Manila paper,
such as is found in the best scrap books, is to
be preferred.

Each sheet should be cut with a separating
strip or stub, one inch wide, pasted on one
edge of it, the stub being perforated with four
holes placed at equal distances. This keeps
the books from widening at the opening side.

The covers are made of cardboard, and may
have a neatly prin|^d or stamped title. Being
stiff, they are made with a flexible joint one
inch from the binding edge.

The large drawers should be about three
inches deep. The inside dimensions of the
smaller drawers should be sufficient to allow
the finished books to be dropped in, if desired.

The manila paper used for making the indi-
vidual sheets and separating strips or stiib^^

Coprrigfat, 18941 by Wilujlm H. Hnxs. AXltVi^n&t

146

The Writer.

along with the scissors, mucilage, fastenings,
etc., should be kept ready for use in the " Stock
Drawer."

There seems to be little necessity for an index
of any sort with this system of filing clippings ;
but should an index be found desirable, an
individual index may be made for each scrap
book and bound in with the other sheets. As
changes occur in the make-up of the book from
culling, the index could be taken out and a
newly arranged one, revised up to date, inserted.

One of the difficulties which arise to harass
those who have a love for clipping and collect-
ing scraps occurs when an immense amount of

clippings have been collected and one feels a
desire to cull. The system I have described
permits culling better, it would seem, than any
other. A dozen sheets may be torn out of a
book and the hole can be simply closed up,
and the absence of the pages removed is never
noticed.

A good feature of the cabinet described is a
rolling front, like that of a roll-top desk, which
is not in the way when the cabinet is open, and
which keeps out the dust when it is closed. It
also serves to make it possible to lock up the
whole afiEair with one key.

Plainfield, n. J. IV. Hull Western.

MORE INCONSISTENCIES OF ILLUSTRATION.

I was pleased with reading a few well-deserved
criticisms on " Inconsistencies of Illustration "
in the July issue of The Writer. While so
doing I recalled a number of inconsistencies
entirely beyond ray comprehension.

I have an illustrated edition of " The Raven,"
in which the artist has depicted Poe with out-
stretched arms and clenched hands imploring
the raven to tell him if there is '*balm in
Gilead."

" Tell me, tell me, I implore."

The illustration bespeaks command. One
never pleads or implores with clenched hands
(except in pictures) if he expects to receive
either a tangible object or an immediate answer
to a heart-felt prayer. The hands may be
clasped — not clenched — when anguish predom-
inates; but even in this condition the arms
would not be outstretched. The very nature of
things forbids an objectiv^gesture with a sub-
jective thought.

In making pictures for the old, and yet
favorite, song, " Comin* thro' the Rye," the illus-
trator frequently falls far short of representing
the idea of the author when he pictures the
lassie coming through a field of rye. In this
case the very beauty and delicacy of the song is
)ost; ior there is nothing to cause a *' lassie " to

shy " when coming through a field of rye, or
wheat, or oats, or any other grain ; but there is
cause when the bare-footed lassie, with carefully
adjusted dress and skirts, " meets a laddie "
while she is tip-toeing her way on the stepping
stones across the swiftly flowing Rye of Bonnie
Scotland.

In the beautiful edition of Shakespeare's
" Seven Ages of Man," issued by a prominent
Philadelphia publishing house, the artist has
illustrated each character according to his con-
ception, but not always consistently with the
text.

" Then a soldier,
Full of strange oaths, bearded like a pard.*'

I fear that the artist has not been sufficiently
observing of pards, or he would not have given
his hero full whiskers or a beard.

It has always been a matter of surprise to me
that great artists in painting angels have zlwzys
represented them as women ; and that in paint-
ing devils they have always represented them
as men.

It may be human nature for women to be
angelic, but that does not argue that men
are naturally devilish.

Again. Why should an artist give wings to
an angel? Surely wings are not essential for

The Writer.

147

the flight of a spirit ; /. /., I do not think they
are.

If angels have wings, and if angels can com-
municate with their earthly friends, this world
would not have been so long in darkness con-
cerning the making of those appendages. No,
indeed ! Some Yankee angel — possibly a

Darius Green — wotld have imparted his
knowledge long before now, and the wing ques-
tion, or man-flight, would have been settled,
while some Yankee brother or other friend of
the angel would have a monopoly on wings.

Edward B. Warman,
Chicago, 111.

THE HEREDITY OF FICTION.

What amount of the white and red corpuscles
of a novelist's life's blood is used for the vivify-
ing of the children of his brain may be surmised
in part by reckoning the heritage of longevity
bestowed upon the dramatis personam of the
comedies and tragedies of his fiction.

What portion of his nerve force he consumes
in energizing his marionnettes ; what quantity
of fibrine and other organic compounds he de-
pletes himself of, for vitalizing them, is most
surely indicated by whatever of living warmth
and coloring he succeeds in infusing into them,
as personalities born of himself, and endowed
by him with the qualities and attributes of a
multiform humanity.

That there is a certain expenditure, of vital
power in the production of the humblest Uriah
Heep, nourished into being among the brain
cells of the novelist, is a fact too well estab-
lished to be gainsaid.

As in the economy of a physical genesis, so
in that of the mental ; it is the fallacious hope
of the human mother to renew her life in her
child's. Maternity brings its own gracious
recompense, yet is the essence of its experi-
mental joy closely allied to the perfume of the
lily, which, brought to blossoming maturity, ex-
hales the sweetest elements of its perfection in
the initial effervescence of disintegration and
decay. In the registry of births there is made
but a single record of a " brain-child " evolved
without loss of vital power on the part of the
author of that child's being. Minerva's emer-
gence, full dowered as a goddess, from the god-
like forehead of Jupiter is, however, in this

nineteenth century, relegated to its proper place
among the myth chronicles of an age when
nymphs and dryads tripped through the mazes
of their "full-dress germans" to the piping of
Pandean pipes in the forests of Arcadia.

"Little Nell," that imperishable spirit of
purity, was not the wearer of the helmet and
shield of the goddess of wisdom, but none the
less surely does her birth record entitle her to
a place among the immortals in the realm of
fiction. We who have had our hearts stirred by
the touch of her fingers do not forget that her
small life was an emanation from the brain and
marrow of him who, with a prophet's vision of
the pathetic tragedy to be unfolded in the brief
span linking her birth with her death, became,
the while, a solitary mourner in the crowded
streets of London, saying, again and again, to
his troubled soul : " Since she must die, would
God she had never been born."

In the glooms of Rochester, the morbid re-
bellion of his spirit in the stem acceptance of
fate's allotment to himself, there is the shadow-
presentment of the brooding woes haunting the
life of Charlotte Bronte. In her "Jane Eyre"
we recognize, too, certain graces of character
as a heritage from herself. There is the im-
passioned temperament blended with strength
of will and steadiness of nerve ; the impulsive
emotions, safe anchored to a cool prudence, like
the floating buoy chained to its bed-rock, under
the tossing waves of a danger shoal.

In physical reproduction even, the influence
of heredity is usually too elusive for analysis,
and not infrequently defies detection ; bat •%&

148

The Writer.

the scions of a race o^which for generations
the women have been known to be beautiful
and the men brave are more apt than otherwise
to be gifted with the family traits, beauty and
bravery, so the brain progeny of the novelist,
however composite in their "make up," ex-
hibit transmitted lineaments and characteris-
tics enough to show that there has been a
transfusion of blood constituents from the veins
of the parent into the life circulation of the off-
spring. The matrix of genius, in which was
molded the Florentine Romola, did not fail to
impress upon the supersensitive nature of the
ideal woman the impress of not a few unmis-
takable lines of resemblance to the author of
her existence. A scholarly recluse, the devotee
of the beautiful and true, as she wrought beauty
and truth of the filaments of her own dreams ;
the unyielding believer in a creed of her own
devising ; a worshipper of images graven unto
herself ; the rash iconoclast, never hesitating to
break in pieces the dearest idol of her soul
when once her eyes were opened to see the
idol's feet of clay ; thus fashioned, was she not
a luminous reflection of her progenitor, George
Eliot ?

Under the illusory charm of Tito's very hu-
man frailties may one not find a mournful sug-

gestion of Marianne Evans, once she had turned
her life aside from the holier, higher ideals of
her youth? But indices, such as have been
cited, might be indefinitely multiplied. They
are significant of the vital union between the
author and the creations of his imagination.
These creations, if they are to outlive himself,
in nine cases out of ten, are the outward expres-
• sion of what he is, or what he feels he might be
capable of being in his dual nature, under the
pressure of a given set of circumstances. As a
student of human nature, however, the novelist
acquires the faculty of absorbing from the asso-
ciations of his environment, and of assimilating
mental pabulum, that goes not only to the repair-
ing of his waste brain tissue, but can be used
by him as so much raw material for the recon-
struction or reincarnation of his heroes and
heroines.

In the lifetime of a writer of novels, therefore,
it is, perhaps, impossible to decide if he be
gifted with the divine faculty of breathing into
the nostrils of his creations that breath of his
life that is to make of them living souls, en-
dowed with the heritage of his own immortality,
as the creator of a new order of intelligences.

M* Sheffey-Peters.
Univbksity of Vikginia.

THE CRITIC.

What is a critic ? Probably the most reason-
able answer to the question is, that he is a
terror to the beginner in literature. A critic is
one who criticises. He is a judge in the literary
world; he passes an opinion on the literary
efforts of others ; he tells us if they are good,
bad, or indifiEerent ; he is supposed to know.

The question may be asked sometimes, how-
ever, " Does he know ? " Well, not always. Of
the thousands of so-called critics in the world,
how many really know how to criticise ? Maybe
a half a dozen; maybe a hundred; maybe a
thousand ; but there's not one of them who is
not confident that he knows all about it

The greater number of this peculiar[class of
people evidently think that criticism consists in
judging an author's work harshly and unfavora-
bly, — " roasting " it, in fact, to use the vernacu-
lar of the newspaper man. Their judgment is
supposed to be* the general opinion, and they
never will allow for one moment that their
judgment can be in any respect incorrect. Oh,
no ; what they write of a new novel, a new play,
or the performance of an actor or actress, must
be right in all respects. They are critics ; they
know; they have passed their opinion, and that
is sufficient.

You say I am wrong. You wish to exonerate

The Writer.

149

the critic, and tell me that he has made a study
of criticism. No, gentle reader, no; the ma-
jority of critics do not make a study of criticism,
and that's where the trouble comes in. Like a
batch of destroying weeds, the most of our so-
called critics spring from a hot-bed of ignorance.
They are given a power ; they terrorize our be-
ginners in literature and crush much of the
promising genius in our rising young authors.
That's what many of our critics do. They are

the weeds in the literary field, and if permitted
to thrive undisturbed, they will soon occupy the
entire ground in which our young writers are
planted.

Fair criticism is just, but the arrogance of the
critic, who simply " roasts," is not just — it is
decidedly unjust, and should be discounten-
anced. For my part, I think that the majority
of our critics are ignoramuses and nuisances.

San Franosco, Calif. Max A. SteitlU,

A CRITICISM OF "TRILBY."

" I have just finished reading George Du
Manner's » Trilby.' "

" And how does it impress you ? "

"As a series of art sketches, — word pictures,
— marred here and there by false strokes.
Svengali and Trilby are masterful creations,
consistent throughout. If the hypnotic influ-
ence has never taken the form described, in the
light of what is known and proven, there is no
reason why it may not. The artist-author's
word sketches are like his pen drawings —
bold in outline and with little softening shad-
ing. Little Billee is exquisitely done, from the
first to last. I think Du Maurier should have
wedded him with sweet Alice, and so made one
death less in the tragic category. And he
need n't have * married o£E ' McAlister at all, as
his chosen one enters not at all into the tale,
and is not given even name and habitation
when she is dragged in at the very close. It
is the old, tiresome way of settling everybody
for life at the end of a story, even when no
pretense is made of giving life histories.

" There are covert sneers at the honesty and
innocence, and occasionally the stupidity, of
the Englishmen — sort of Max O'Rell dabs, as
it were ; for instance : * British, provincial,
home-made music, innocent little sisterly and
motherly tinklings.' And sweet Alice, with her
Sunday-school class and charity works, is made
to appear tame, washed-out, and insignificant

beside the painted, daring creatures who sit for
models to figure painters. This impression
might have been softened by Little Billee's
recovery from his Parisian intoxication and
the dressing of sober, earnest, respectable life
in more attractive colors. Du Maurier, too,
plainly jeers at those who love these simple
things because they don't know any better.

"The most inartistic thing in the whole book
is the not infrequent allusion to *your present
scribe ' and * the writer.' When, through much
skilful manipulation, a climax is reached and
the reader is held by the spell, it is about as
effective and sudden a disenchanter to be told,
*The writer knows nothing at all about music,
as the reader has doubtless discovered,' as it is
to hear the prompter behind the scenes ; or to
have the dead on the stage, who made you cry
with their dying, come smiling out in answer to
plaudits ; or to get a sudden glimpse of the
dressing room, where the costumes are assorted
and the rouge is put on.

" To go with an author on a little moralizing
or philosophical side excursion is thoroughly
enjoyable, but to run against a snag like this,
* This is a digression, and I don't know how I
came to do it,' gives one the sensation of being
played upon by a guide who has appeared as
absorbed as yourself in scenes and characters,
but who has not for a moment lost his self-
consciousness, as is shown by the wa^ bift. ^x^t*.

150

The Writer.

himself up when he would turn a comer and
jostles you out of your dreamy and delightful
contemplation.

" Another and kindred blemish in these alto-
gether striking pictures is the occasional drop-
ping into colloquialisms. Du Maurier describes
Little Billee^s malady in quite learned fashion,
and then mentions his * cerebrum or cerebellum
(whichever it may be).' And speaking of
Trilby's height, he says : * About as tall as
Miss Ellen Terry — the right height, I think.'
Here you are snatched from a picture in the
Latin Quartier in the 'fifties, to behold Miss
Terry come upon the stage and to be told that
Du Maurier likes tall women and approves of
Miss Terry. Of course, the * Trilby' spell is
broken, and you feel vexed with him who did
it, either ignorantly or maliciously.

** Then there are such inapt quotations !
There are a thousand things that Trilby could
have said at the sorrowful, critical moment,
better and more in keeping than * I must take
the bull by the horns,* albeit she had heard the
expression from Taify, who painted toreadors.
And when Little Billee saw Alice's father ap-
proaching and felt shrunken into insignificance
as he compared himself with him, he should
hardly have said : * When Greek meets Greek,

then comes the tug of war.' The sentence,

* And the Laird wunk his historic wink,' makes
a newspaper editor feel like reaching for his
blue pencil, and at the same time scoring an
over-smart reporter. * Miss Lavinia Hunks, of
Chicago,' is very bad. American girls who pay
for, and marry, titles are not deformed and
squint-eyed. It is neither realistic nor reason-
able to picture one as being so, when plenty of
the comely and graceful stand waiting.

" The grammatical construction of sentences
is bad in some instances ; for illustration : * And
each walked ofE in opposite direction, stiff as
pokers, while Tray stood between them looking
first at one receding figure, then another.'

" In spite of these blemishes, which announce
themselves plainly in a fine piece of work,

* Trilby ' is fascinating from first to last. Du
Manner's French slang is delicious, and his
delineation of the art student's life in the Latin
Quartier, which is to-day vastly like that of forty
years ago, with changes of name and place,
shows intimate knowledge, if not a fund of ex-
perience. The story is airy and picturesque,
and will easily rank as the most notable novel
of the summer from a man's hand."

Eliot C. True*

Toledo, Ohio.

PLACING MANUSCRIPTS.

I think many writers make a mistake in look-
ing too high for a market for their first attempts
at writing. Many writers enter the field without
any training, and with but little capital in the
shape of treasured-up knowledge, and yet expect
that their first crude efforts ought to be good
enough for the best papers or magazines in the
land.

A moment's thought ought to show them that
this is expecting more than is reasonable. No
reasonable person, having no knowledge what-
ever of the duties of a printing ofiice, would
think of entering a newspaper office with the
expectation that in a few months he would be

editor-in-chief. . It is the same in every depart-
ment of life. The minister, the lawyer, the
doctor, the teacher, whether in the higher insti-
tutions of learning or in the common school,
the artisan, in every department of skilled labor,
all expect to begin at the bottom of the ladder
and work their way up by honest toil, by mak-
ing themselves worthy of a higher place. And
why should not this be as true of writers as of
any other workers ?

I think it would be well for beginners,
whether they are young or old, to send their
first effusions to some of the less pretentious
papers, since their contributions will be much

The Writer.

151

more likely to be accepted than if they are sent
to leading papers. Many articles that are apt
and in place in a good paper working in some
humble sphere would have no value to the
editor of a great journal.

There is a danger here, perhaps, that we ought
to guard against. We may think that if we
write for a paper of the humbler sort, we need
not be very careful as to how we write ; that
almost anything will be good enough for a
paper of that kind. That is not the feeling for
any one to indulge who wishes to become a
good writer. Do the very best you can all
the time. For whatever paper you write,
whether for the county paper in your own
neighborhood or for some leading paper in
Boston or New York, try to have your articles
among the very best to be found in that paper.

An editor of my acquaintance paid a flattering
compliment to one of his contributors when he

^aid to him : " Your articles, Mr. H , are

inquired after, and always elicit favorable com-
ment." That is the kind of articles that we
should try to furnish all the time ; the very
brightest and best to be found in the paper we
write for, no matter what the standing of the
paper may be.

To summarize : Send your articles to a paper
that will welcome them ; do no careless work,
but let your articles be so good as to attract
attention ; be ever aiming to " branch out " by
sending occasional articles to papers of a
higher standing ; work faithfully and persever-
ingly, and the measure of success that is possi-
ble is reasonably assured.

BiGBLow, Minn. Robert Shore.

ONE SIDE OF A WRITER'S CORRESPONDENCE.

Confidence.

(To Editor No. i.)

My dear Editor :

I send you a short story for the ycung
folks ; kindly look it over. Should you find that
you cannot use ' it for your paper, enclosed
please find stamps for return.

Yours fraternally,

X. Y. Z.

Hope.

( To Editor No. 2. )

Dear Editor :

Enclosed I send a short young folks'
story. Please examine it. If it proves un-
available, kindly return. Enclosed please find
stamps. Very respectfully,

X. Y. Z.

Doubt.

( To Editor No. 3. )

Dear Editor :

Will you please read the enclosed? If
unavailable, please find stamps enclosed for its
return. Yours very truly,

X. Y. Z.

Humility.

( To Editor No. 4. )

Dear Editor :

May I trouble you to read the enclosed
short story? If not worth printing in your
paper, enclosed please find postage for return.

Yours truly,

X. Y. z.

Despair.

( To Editor No. 5. )

Dear Editor :

If you cannot find a use for this, enclosed
please find postage for return.

Hastily,

X. Y. Z.

Cynicism.

( To Editor No. 6. )

Dear Editor :

Should the enclosed prove unavailable,
kindly use it to embellish the interior of your
waste-basket. Yours,

X. Y. z.

Have you ever been there, gentle writer ?

Mayme Isham.

Hampobn, Mass.

152

The Writer.

mtt^^^X^^^bm,

The Writer.

Pmblishcd monthly by The Writer Publishing Company, 282
^ Washington street, Rooms g and 10, Boston, Mass.

WILLIAM H. HILLS. . . . Editor.

%*Thb Writer is published the first day of every month.
It will be sent, post-paid, Onb Ybar for Onb Dollar.

*0* All drafts and money orders should be made payable to
The Writer Publishing Co. Stamps, or local checks, should
not be sent in payment for subscriptions.

%*Thb Writbr will be sent only to those who have paid for
it in advance. Accounts cannot be opened for subscriptions,
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•rder is accompanied by a remittance. When subscriptions ex-
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order for renewal, accompanied by remittance, is received. Due
notice will be given to every subscriber of the expiration of his
•obtcription.

%* No sample copies of Thb Writbr will be sent free.

%* Everything that may be printed in the magaxine will be
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Writbr outside of the advertising pages.

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addressed envelope is enclosed.

THE WRITER PUBLISHING CO.,

282 Washington street ( Rooms 9 and 10 ),

P. O. Box 1905. Boston, Mass.

Vol. VII. October, 1894. No. 10.

Many are the curiosities of book-reviewing.
Criticising a new book, "Talks to Children
About Jesus," the Western Recorder of Louis-
ville, Ky., says : " But far worse than these mis-
takes is the deliberate insult to the Lord by

picturing him with long hair. This insult is
utterly without excuse, even of cheapness, for
it is as easy to make plates for engraving with
short hair as with long. And the Holy Spirit
has pronounced long hair a shame to man.''

A letter received recently by The Writer's
Literary Bureau* deserves more than ordinary
attention. It reads as follows : —

Dbbr Park, Md., September 22, 1894.
Writer's Literary Bureau, Boston, Mass. :

I write to ask your terms and mode of disposing of manu-
script. I have had some success several years ago, but lately
have been unable to dispose of manuscript, and am tired of
writing in the dark.

In order to test somewhat my own merit, as well as the criti-
cal ability of prominant magazines, I have sent verse from the
most distinguUhed English poets, — Browning, Shelley, Swin-
burne, etc., — under my own and other unknown signatures.
It has been returned just with the same formula, and without
one sign 0/ rtcognitUn by the most prominant magazines in
this country. Of course, after this I have been in despair of
getting anything o£F on its own merits, for I am per/tctly am-
fidant that the deception was not recognized, and if such work
was not accepted, I could send nothing that would be. Please
let me hear from you. I consider literary success now simply
a matter of advertizement. The enduring quality, of course,
depends oa value. With respect.

I send enclosed letter as testimonial of former success. I
have made the same experiment with prose as with verse. The
same result, but this was not so well tested.

The copy is verbatim, with the exception of
the signature, which ought rightly to be printed,
but which is withheld out of consideration for
the feelings of the writer. It is charitable to
assume that the action which she so frankly de-
scribes was taken without full realization of
what she was doing, and for that reason alone
she is spared public exposure. In sending the
work of well-known writers to editors under her
own and other unknown signatures, however,
she has both been doing a contemptible thing,
and has made herself punishable under the laws
which forbid attempts to obtain money under
false pretences. She would say, of course, that
she would have returned any money that might
have been sent to her for a poem not her own ;
but so might any thief, caught in an act of knav-
ery, say that he intended to return his stolen
goods, and that he was stealing only to see
whether or not such a theft was possible. " The
Editor's Story," by Richard Harding Davis, in

The Writer.

153

Harper* s Magazine for August, has a special
application to this woman*s case.

Apart from all moral considerations involved,
such an experiment as that she has described
proves nothing at all, excepting that the experi-
menter is unworthy of respect. The rejection
by an editor of any manuscript is no reflection
whatever upon its merit. Availability is the
final test which every editor applies. A manu-
script may be perfect of its kind, beyond criti-
cism so far as literary merit is concerned, and
yet unavailable for a given periodical for any
one of half a hundred reasons. " Paradise
Lost" has made Milton's name immortal, but
there is probably not a publisher in the world
who would accept it for publication if it were
offered in manuscript by its author for the first
time to-day. Shelley's " Ode to a Skylark " is
an exquisite bit of vivid melody, but it is quite
conceivable that if Shelley were alive and had
just written his ode, he might offer it in vain to
half-a-dozen editors before he found one who
wanted just such a poem precisely at that time.
"John Gilpin's Ride" has been a household
word to countless hosts of readers, old and
young, but the editor of St. Nicholas or the
editor of the Youih^s Companion might find it
unavailable if it were really a new poem and
were offered by its author for original publica-
tion now. The editor who sent back the poem

by Swinburne that Mrs. submitted as her

awn production simply meant — assuming that
he was deceived — that, however good the poem
might be, he did not want it for his magazine.
The chances are a thousand to one that he
would have rejected it just the same if Mr.
Swinburne had offered it, as a new manuscript,
himself.

« »

Mrs. assumes too much in feeling sure

that she succeeded in deceiving the editors on
whom she tried her contemptible experiment.
She may be right in her belief, however. It is
absolutely impossible that any editor shall have
read everything that has been published, or
even every famous poem, story, or essay that
the world has known. It is more than possible
that a given poem by Browning, for example,
should be new to five out of six editors of lead-

ing magazines — and it would not be in the least
to their discredit if it were so. Editors gen-
erally are widely read, but no human being can
have read everything, or even every good thing
that has been written. Still, it is rather possible

than probable that the editors whom Mrs.

approached under false pretences were deceived
by her. They may only have thought her trick-
ery to be beneath contempt.

« »
The important lesson of the whole matter is
that availability, and not merit alone, is the test
which every editor applies to every manuscript
submitted to him for publication in the periodi-
cal which he conducts. Literary success is not
"simply a matter of advertizement," or of ad-
vertisement, either. It is conceivable that the
same editor who rejected Browning's poem
when Mrs. offered it might accept an orig-
inal poem of hers, if she should send it to him.
She says herself that she has had some success
in former years, and the "letter" to which she
refers in her postscript is a manifold circular
from a biographical cyclopaedia maker saying
that she is entitled to a place in his valuable

work. w. H. H.

♦

QUERIES.

In writing a story is it well to introduce let-
ters which throw light on the tastes and life of
the characters, but do not elucidate the plot ?

A. H. M. c.

[ Theoretically, everything that is introduced
in a story should serve to elucidate the plot.
Practically, anything may be introduced that
tends to make the story interesting. If letters
which throw light on the tastes and life of the
characters, but do not elucidate the plot, en-
hance the interest of the narration, the author
will do wisely, by all means, if he puts them in.
— w. H. H.]

Can you devote space in your next issue to
giving your opinion on this point — whether it
IS better for a writer to keep to his 'own signa-
ture and not write under any assumed names ?
Is it better to lose no opportunity of letting

154

The Writer.

your name be seen, or to allow yourself to be
Known only by your best work ? Anthony Trol-
lope advised the former course, on the ground
that if you take a second name, you only have to
work up a second reputation. Besides, one dis-
likes the appearance of doing anything one is
ashamed to own. On the other hand, work may
be good of its sort, yet be of an inferior sort,
and one cannot always be at his best. Perhaps
the two-name arrangement is merely a business-
like one. But the point upon which I seek light
is this — would, or would not, the editor of a
review, or of one of the leading magazines, if he
received an essav on Ibsen's heroines or a good
story or poem, oe prejudiced against it if he
recognized the author as having written comic
verses or an article on stocking-darning? I
don't know why he should, since versatility is a
good thing in itself, and probably editors of
reviews do not read either the comic or the
domestic papers. Feeling sure that a great
many of your readers are interested in this mat-
ter, I hope you will make room for my ques-
tions and your advice at an early date.

M. H. F. L.

[ The question of the writer's signature was
fully discussed by the editor of The Writer
in an article published in the number of the
magazine for February, 1888. This article is
commended to the attention of " M. H. F. L."
and others who are interested in the subject.
It was said there that " Sometimes an author
who has won fame in some special way may
find it to his advantage to do writing of another
kind anonymously or under a borrowed signa-
ture. ... As a rule, the writer who means
to make writing a business will find it to his
advantage to put his signature to everything he
writes, and to make that signature as widely
known as possible. . . . Some brains may be
weighty enough to make more than one name
immortal, but the trouble is generally of another
kind. Writers who have habitually used more
than one name have generally acknowledged
their error after a time, and have devoted them-
selves to one signature, dropping all the others."
It may be, however, that if one is versatile
enough to be able to write housekeeping arti-
cles, comic verses, critical analyses of Tolstoi,
and essays on the differential calculus, the use
of more than one signature will be advisable.
As a matter of fact, one writer rarely excels in
so many different lines, and if he does all of
tAese things, the chances are that he does not

do any one of them surpassingly well. The
presumption is, therefore, that if he does them
all, he does them all indifferently, and for that
reason his reputation in any one department
suffers because of the reputation he has gained
in other lines. The versatile man is usually
surpassed by the specialist in any line of work
that he may undertake. If, therefore, a writer
is engaged in two kinds of work utterly dis-
similar, — like joke-writing and serious critical
work, for instance, — it may be well for him to
have two signatures, one for each style of
work. — w. H. H.]

THE SCRAP BASKET.

The statute of the late Frederick T. Frelinghuysen, Secretary
of State under President Arthur, was unveiled at Newark
recently. The statute stands in the upper end of the park oppo-
site the Essex Club and within sight of the Frelinghuysen man-
sion, which is at the north end of the park.

Now that The Writer has undertaken to
edit "newspaper English," what has it to say of
the paragraph above, taken from an archi-
tectural periodical? If the "statute" had not
been repeated, it might have passed for a typo-
graphical blunder. As it stands, does it imply
an attempt at dialect writing? a. h. n.

Nbw Orleans, La.

The "index expurgatorius " of William Cul-
len Bryant, recently asked for in The Writer,
is as follows : —

Over and above (for " more than " ).
Artiste (for "artist").
Aspirant.
Authoress.
Beat (for "defeat").
Bagging ( for " capturing " ).
Balance ( for " remainder " ).
Banquet ( for " dinner " or " supper " ).
Bogus.

Casket ( for " coffin " ).
Claimed ( for " asserted " ).
Collided.

Commence (for " begin " ).
Compete.

Cortege ( for " procession ").
Cotemporary ( tor " contemporary " ).
Couple ( for " two " ).
Darkey ( for " negro " ).
Day before yesterday (for "the day before
yesterday").
D^but.
Decrease ( as a verb ).

The Writer,

155

Democracy ( applied to a political party ).

Develop ( lor " expose " ).

Devouring element ( for " fire " ).

Donate.

Employ^.

Enacted ( for " acted " ).

Endorse ( for " approve " ).

En route.

Esq.

Graduate (for "is graduated ").

Gents ( for " gentlemen " ).

Hon.

House ( for " House of Representatives " ).

Humbug.

Inaugurate ( for " begin " ).

In our midst.

Item (for "particle," "extract," or "para-
graph " ).

Is being done, and all passives of this form.

Jeopardize.

Jubilant (for "rejoicing ").

Juvenile (for " boy " ).

Lady ( for " wife *0-

Last (for "latest").

Lengthy (for "long").

Leniency (for "lenity").

Loafer.

Loan or loaned ( for " lend " or " lent " ).

Located.

Majority ( relating to places or circumstances,
for "most").

Mrs. President, Mrs. Governor, Mrs. General,
and all similar titles.

Mutual ( for " common " ).

Official ( for " officer " ).

Ovation.

On yesterday.

Over his signature.

Pants ( for " pantaloons " ).

Parties ( for " persons " ).

Partially ( for " partly " ).

Past two weeks (for "last two weeks," and
all similar expressions relating to a definite
time).

Poetess.

Portion ( for " part " ).

Posted (for "informed").

Progress (for "advance ).

Reliable (for "trustworthy").

Rendition ( for "performance ").

Repudiate (for " reject " or "disown ").

Retire (as an active verb).

Rev. ( for " the Rev." ).

R61e ( for " part " ).

Roughs.

Rowdies.

Secesh.

Sensation (for "noteworthy event " ).

Standpoint (for "point of view " ).

Start, in the sense of setting out.

State (for "say").

Taboo.

Talent ( for " talents " or " ability " ).

Talented.

Tapis.

The deceased.

War (for "dispute " or "disagreement").

A host of readers of The Writer have
answered the question of " G. W. S.," asked in
the September number, about the poem begin-
ning

" Tell me, ye wingM winds."

The poem is by Charles Mackay, and Olivia
T. Closson, of Washington, D. C, sends a copy
of it, as follows : —

TELL MB, YB. WINGED WINDS.

BY CHARLBS MACKAY.

»»

Tell me, ye vringM winds,

That round my pathway roar,
Do ye not know some spot

Where mortals weep no more ?
Some lone and pleasant dell,

Some valley in the west.
Where, free from toil and pain,
The weary soul may rest ?
The loud wind dwindled to a whisper low,
And sighed for pity as it answered, " No."

Tell me, thou mighty deep,

Whose billows round me play,
Know'st thou some favored spot,

Some island far away,
Where weary man may find

The bliss for which he sighs, —
Where sorrow never lives,

And friendship never dies?
The loud waves, rolhng in perpetual flow,
Stopped for a while, and sighed to answer, " No.

And thou, serenest moon.

That with such lovely face
Dost look upon the earth,

Asleep in night's embrace.
Tell me, in all thy round

Hast thou not seen some spot
Where miserable man
May find a happier lot ?
Behind a cloud the moon withdrew in woe,
And a voice, sweet but sad, responded, " No."

Tell me, my secret soul,

Oh, tell me, Hope and Faith,
Is there no resting-place

From sorrow, sin, and death ?
Is there no happy spot

Where mortals may be blest.
Where grief may find a balm.

And weariness a rest ?
Faith, Hope, and Love, best boons to mortals given,
Waved their bright wings, and whispered, " Yes, in heaven.''

The poem may be found in " The Fireside
Encyclopaedia of Poetry," edited by Henry T.
Coates, and published by Porter &. 0«!m«.,

156

The Writer.

Philadelphia; in " Swinton's Fifth Reader"
(p. 422), published by Ivison, Blakeman, & Co.,
New York and Chicago ; in Bryant's ^* Library
of Poetry and Song " ( p. 268 ) ; in " Parker's
National Fifth Reader," published by A. S.
Barnes & Co., New York and Chicago ; and in
Charles Mackay's collected poems. Charles
Mackay, LL. D., is a Scottish author, born at
Perth in 181 2, and lately residing at Fern Dell,
near Dorking, county of Surrey, England. He
has written several volumes of poems and a
number of works in prose. The original title
of his poem was "The Inquiry."

NEWSPAPER ENGLISH EDITED.

Between to-day and May i
we will eat 4,000 bushels of
oysters a day, and they will
average 250 oysters to a bush-
el, or an average of 10,000,000
oysters a day. — New York
Sun.

Between to-day and May i
we shall eat 4,000 bushels of
oysters a day, and they will
average 350 oysters to a bush-
el, or an average of 10,000,000
oysters a day.

Ex-Senator Piatt got the
news at Coney Island that
Mr. Morton had decided to
be a candidate by telephone,
but he had no comment to
make. — New York Herald.

Ex-Senator Piatt eot the
news at Cpney Island by tel-
ephone that Mr. Morton had
decided to be a candidate, but
he had no comment to make.

Campania's Good Run —
She !■ ailed, However, to
Again Lower the Record. —
New York Herald Head-
lines.

Campania's Good Run —
She Failed, However, Again
to Lower the Record.

The house contains eleven
rooms, and is arranged for
one or two families with all
modem improvements. — Bos-
4on Auctioneer's Advertise-
ment.

The house contains eleven
rooms, and is arranged for
one or two families. It has
all modern improvements.

BOOK REVIEWS.

N. W. Aver & Son's American Newspaper Annual for
i893-g4. 1,481 pp. Cloth, ^5.00. Philadelphia: N. W.
Ayer & Son.

Aver's " Newspaper Annual," always a stan-
dard book, is belter this year than ever before,
since the date of publication has been changed
from September i to the end of December, thus
bringing the information that the book contains
up to the date which it bears. The present
volume is dated 1893-94. Next year's volume
will be dated 1895, and so on. The work is best
described by its title page, which speaks of it
as "a catalogue of American newspapers, a
caref ullv-prepared list of newspapers and period-
icals puolished in the United States and Canada,
with information regarding their circulation,
issue, date of establishment, political or other

distinctive features, names of editors and pub-
lishers, and street addresses in cities of 50,000
inhabitants and upward, together with the popu-
lation of the counties and places in which the
papers are published, and a description of everv
place in the United States and Canada in which
a newspaper is published." There are also
separate lists of religious and agricultural publi-
cations and the various class publications, lists
of the press and editorial associations of the
United States and Canada, etc. In all there are
20,774 periodicals classified, and 4,500 changes
have been made from the previous year's edition.
To writers the value of such a book is evident,
since it gives all the information about all the
periodicals of the country that is required by
those who have manuscripts to sell, and are
looking for new markets. To the general con-
tributor to the press a directory of this kind is
almost indispensable. w. h. h.

The Book of the Fair. An historical and descriptive pres-
entation of the world's science, art, and industry, as viewed
through the Columbian Exposition at Chicago m 1893. By
Hubert Howe Bancroft Part XI. 40 pp. Paper, $1.00.
Chicago and San Francisco : The Bancroft Company. 1894.

Part XI. of the sumptuous Bancroft "Book
of the Fair " completes the description of the
electrical department at the Chicago Exposi-
tion, and begins the description of the depart-
ment devoted.to horticulture and forestry. The
high standard of the previous issues of the
work is fully maintained. Some of the half-
tone pictures of the horticultural exhibits are
particularly beautiful, two of the most notable
of all being that of the bed of Texas cacti, and
that of the Australian tree ferns. The full-page
illustrations are pictures of the Franklin statue ;
the Electricity building, north front ; the Edi-
son electric tower ; the east entrance, Horticul-
tural building; a group of botanical exhibits;
the Horticultural building from the southeast
corner; and the exhibits from the Gould con-
servatory. Horticultural hall. w. h. h.

Public Libraries in America. By William I. Fletcher.
Illustrated. 169 pp. Cloth, $1.00. Boston: Roberts Bros.
1894.

Probably nobody in this country knows any
more about public libraries than Mr. Fletcher,
and for that reason his book on " Public Libra-
ries in America," which is the second volume
of the Columbian Knowledge Series, possesses
special interest. It begins with an historical
sketch of the public library movement, and
goes on to discuss library buildings, classifica-
tion and catalogues, selection and purchase of
books, reference work, special collections, and
all the details of library work and management.
Representative libraries are discussed, and
there are a number of pictures of leading libra-
ries and librarians. There is a special chapter
treating of the librarian, his work, and his train-
ing for it, and another chapter gives informa-

The Writer.

157

tion about the American Libraiy Association.
In the appendix the Sundav opening of libra-
ries, gifts to libraries, and library rules are dis-
cussedf and a scheme of classification and some
statistics of libraries are given. Mr. Fletcher
ssLjs, by the way, that of the 3,804 libraries re-
ported by the United States Bureau of Educa-
tion only 566 are in a true sense public. His
book throughout is both a valuable and an in-
structive one. w. H. H.

Slat and Moslem. By J. Milliken Napier Brodhead. 30
pp. Cloth. Aiken, S. C. : Aiken Publishing Co. 1894.

It is a pity that " Slav and Moslem " has not
been brought out in better style, so far as typo-
graphical appearance and binding are con-
cerned, for the evident amateurishness of both
printer's and binder's work unconsciously prej-
udices the reader aeainst the book. When he
' comes to examine the work carefully, however,
the reader finds that it is well worthy of serious
attention. Mr. Brodhead has made a thorough
study of Russian history and of the conditions
existing in the land of the czar to-day, and he
explains intelligently both why the development
of Russia up to within the last half centurv has
been so slow, and what the future ot the
country is to be. Mr. Brodhead's view of Rus-
sia is very different from that which writers like
George Kennan take. Recognizing the crudi-
ties and anomalies of her civilization, he won-
ders only, " not that she is behindhand in some
things, but that she should already have done
so much toward retrieving the past, and have
become a leading factor in the politics of
Europne to-day, and perhaps the arbiter of its
destinies in the future." Mr. Brodhead's knowl-
edge of Russia is evidently an intimate one,
ana his book deserves the careful attention of
all who desire to get an accurate idea of exist-
ing conditions in the czar's dominions.

w. H. H.

Thb Whitb Crown, and Othbr Storibs. By Herbert D.
Ward. 336 pp. Cloth, $1.25. Boston : Houghton, Mifflin,
& Co. 1894.

Besides the title-story, this volume of Mr.
Ward's latest work includes "The Semaphore,"
" The Value of a Cipher," " A Romance of the
Faith," "Only an Incident," "A Cast of the
Net," " The Equation of a Failure," and " The
Missine; Interpreter." "The Semaphore " is a
particularly strong and vivid story of railroad
life — by far the most interesting in the book.
"The White Crown" is a fanciful dream of
universal peace. w. h. h.

His Vanishbd Star. By Charles Egbert Craddock. 394 pp.
doth, #1.25. Boston : Houghton, Mifflin, & Co. 1894.

Miss Murfree's word pictures of life and
character in the Tennessee mountains are as
graphic and lifelike in her latest book as they
were in her first published story. " His Van-
ished Star " is full of incidents and character

sketches that fascinate the reader, and although
dialect stories are looked on with disfavor now,
this novel is certain to be widely read. As in
her former work. Miss Murfree gives her de-
scriptive faculties altogether too much exercise,
so far as Tennessee mountain scenery is con-
cerned, but the reader who skips judiciously
may easily do for himself what the author
should have done before the manuscript left
her hands. Altogether "His Vanished Star"
is sure to increase the literary reputation of its
author. w. h. h.

My Summbr in a Mormon Villagb. By Florence A. Mer-
riaxn. 171 pp. Qoth, |i.oo. Boston: Houghton, Mifflin,
& Co. 1894.

"My Summer in a Mormon Village" is a
pleasant narrative of a quiet summer spent in
Utah, and gives unprejudiced views of home
life among the Mormons. A picture of Lake
Blanche, Big Cottonwood Cafion, makes a
beautiful frontispiece for the book. w. h. h.

Thb Two-lbggbd Wolf. A romamce. By N. N. Karasin.
Translated from the Russian by Boris Lanin. 322 pp.
Cloth, li.oo. Chicago : Rand, McNally, & Co. 1894.

" The Two-legged Wolf " is a wild romance
of camp and desert life, the scene being laid in
central Asia at the time of the Russian advance
against the Khan of Khiva. The plot is inter-
esting, and the story is dramatically told. A
romantic love story runs through the book, and
there are many vivid pictures of Russian mili-
tary life. w. H. H.

LiTTLB Miss Faith. By Grace Le Baron. 174 pp. Qoth,
75 cents. Boston : Lee & Shepard. 1894.

"Little Miss Faith" is an attractive intro-
duction to a series of three 'volumes to be
known as the Hazelwood Stories, and relates
the incidents of a country week at Falcon's-
height, where the ten-jrear-old heroine is the
guest of another little girl at her country home.
Among older people the book will appeal to
those who are interested in finding summer
homes for city children, and juvenUe readers
are sure to be delighted with it. w. h,, h.

Brothbr Against Brothbr ; or, Thb War on thb Bordbr.
Bv Oliver Optic. 451pp. Cloth, 1 1.50. Boston: Lee&
Snepard. 1894.

For boy readers " Oliver Optic's " books pos-
sess unfailing interest. This new story is the
first volume of the Blue and the Gray Army
Series, which will include six volumes, thoueh,
as the author says in his preface, " the number
is contingent upon the longevity of one, still
hale and hearty, who has passed oy a couple of
years the Scriptural limit of * threescore years
and ten' allotted to human life." Surely sdl
boy readers will hope that "Oliver Optic" will
be able for many years to come to give them
periodically stories as full of fascinating inter-
est as those that he has been writing for the
last forty years. The scene of " BrotbA.'t

158

The Writer.

Against Brother " is laid in Kentucky and the
time of the story is that of the beginning of the
civil war. No boy can fail to be attracted by
the book. w. h. h.

Thb Flowbr op Forgivbnrss. By Flora Annie Steel. 355
pp. Cloth, $1.00. New York: Macmillan & Co. 1894.

Sixteen short stories are included in this vol-
ume, the first of which gives the title to the
book. Their scenes are laid in India, and they
illustrate many different phases of Hindoo
character looked upon from an altogether differ-
ent point of view from that which Rudyard
Kipling takes. Mrs. Steel's acquaintance with
Hindoo methods of thought is evidently inti-
mate, and her pictures of native Indian life are
vivid and clear-cut. The book is marked by.the
same merit that characterized "Miss Stuart's
Legacy " and " The Potter's Thumb."

W. H. H.

Thb Story of Margr^dbl. By David Storrar Meldrum.
Third edition. 36gpp. Paper, 50 cents. New York : G. P.
Putnam's Sons. 1894.

Mr. Meldrum's "fireside history of a Fife-
shire family " has won its welcome, and needs
no commendation here. It is a charming story,
and throughout it is exquisitely told.

w. H. H.

BOOKS RECEIVED.

[ All books sent to the editor of Thb Writer wiH be a^
knowledged under this heading. They will receive such farther
notice as may be warranted by their importance to readers of
the magazine.]

Miss Hurd : An Enigma. By Anna Katharine Green. 357
pp. Paper, 50 cents. New York : G. P. Putnam's Sons.

1894.

Sorrow and Song. By Coulson Kemahan. 156 pp. Q«th,
li.as- Philadelphia: J. B. Lippincott Company. 1894.

Thb Pbarl of India. By Maturin M. Ballon. 335 pp.
Cloth, ^1.50. Boston : Houghton, Mifflin, & Co. 1894.

A Florida Sketch-book. By Bradford Torrey. 242 pp.
Qoth, I1.25. Boston : Houghton, Mifflin, & Co. 1894.

Thb Chase op Saint-Castin, and Other Tales. By
Mary Hart well Catherwood. 266 pp. Qoth, li.as. Bos-
ton : Houghton, Mifflin, & Co. 1894.

The Great Keinplatz Experiment, and Othbr Stories.
By A. Conan Doyle. 23a pp. Paper, 25 cents. Chicago :
Rand, McNally, & Co. 1894.

The Flying Halcyon. By Richard Henir Savage. 300 pp.
Paper, 50 cents. Chicago : F. Tennyson Neely. 1894.

Good Night, Schatz. In one act. By Adolf Hepner. 47
pp. Paper, as cents. St. Louis : St. Louis News Co. 1894.

The Universal Name; or. One Hundred Songs to Mary.
Selected and arranjged bv Mrs. E. Vale Blake. 149 pp.
Qoth. Buffalo : Charles Wells Moulton. 1894.

HELPFUL HINTS AND SUGGESTIONS.

When Your Mucilage Qives Out. — Should
you ever have the misfortune to need some
mucilage when the bottle is empty and you

have not the time or patience to make paste,
simply moisten the flap of some unused en-
velope, scrape ofiE the glue with a knife blade,
and spread it upon the paper you wish to paste.

Try it. Maynu Isham,

Hampden, Mass.

♦

LITERARY ARTICLES IN PERIODICALS.

[The publisher of The Writer will send to any address a
eopy of any magazine mentioned in the following reference list
on receipt of the amount given in parenthesis following the name
— the amount being in each cue the price of the periodical,
with thrtt ctnis ^stagt tidded'. Unless a price is given, the
periodical must be ordered from the publication office. Readers
who send to the publishers of the periodicals indexed for copies
containing the articles mentioned in the list will confer a favor
if they will mention The Writer when they write.]

Poetry and Science. Professor William H. Hudson.
Popular Scunce Monthly ( 53 c. ) for October.

Telegraphy Up to Date. George J. Vamey. Lippmcoifs
( 28 c. ) for October.

The Romantic Novel* — Mr. Howells' Reminiscences.
Charles Dudley Warper. Editor's study. Harper's (38c)
for October.

Charles A. Dana. Edward P. Mitchell. McClur^s
Ma£asine ( 18 c. ) for October.

Anthony Hope. Current Literature ( 28 c. ) for October.

Joanna E. Woods. Gilson Willetts. Current Liierature
(a8c. )for October.

Arthur Conan Doyle. With portrait. Frederick Dol-
man. Ladies^ Home Journal (13 c.) for October.

James Matthew Barrie. With portrait. Frederick Dol-
man. Ladies* Home Journal ( 13 c. ) for October.

My Literary Passions. W. D. Howells. Ladies" Home
Journal ( 13 c. ) for October.

Disraeli's Place in Literature. Frederick Harrison.
Forum ( a8 c. ) for October.

Has Oratory Declined? Henry L. Dawes. Forum
( a8 c. ) for October.

Cacoethes Scribbndi. The Point of View. Scribner*s
(28 c. )for October.

The Newspaper Press op Europe. H. R. Chamberiain.
Chautau^uan ( 28 c. ) for October.

Harriet Beecher Stowe. With portrait. Popular Edu-
cator ( 13 c. ) for September.

Pioneer Printers op America. S. R. Davis. Paper and
Press ( 18 c ) for September.

The Evolution op Illustrating. — IL H. M. Duncan.
Paper and Press ( x8 c ) for September.

Mrs. Euzabetm A. Reed. Charles Ritch Johnson.
Journalist ( 13 c. ) for August 25.

The American Press AssoaATXON. Fourth Estate ( 13 c.)
for August 30. •

How Type Is Made. Fourth Estate ( 13 c ) for Septem-
ber 13.

A Cure for Writer's Cramp. Phonographic Journal
( Port Jervis, N. Y. ) for August.

John Latey and the London Penny Illustrated
Paper. Sketch for August 8.

A Fallacy op the Reausts. Richard Burton. Congrr
rationalist for August 23.

The Writer.

'59

Thb Litbrary Motif of thb Puritans. C. Lauren
Hooper. Interior for August 23.

Waltbr Patbr. Louis Dyer. Nation for August 23.

Edith M. Thomas. Viola Roseboro. Cincinnati Trilmn*,
St. Louis Republic for August a6.

Cbua Parkbr Woollby. Hart/ord (Conn.) Telegram
for August 28.

Thb Penny Wbbklibs op London. Jeannette L. Gilder.
Independent for August 30.

Virginia Woodward Cloud and Lizbttb Rbbsb. Paul-
ine Carrington Rust. Boston Transcript for September i.

Cy Warman. Reprinted from Chicago Times in Louisville
Courier-Journal for September 2, and in Philadelphia Press
for September 4.

How TO Bbcomb a Journalist. John Palmer Gavit. Gol'
den Rule for September 6.

John Bur roughs. With portrait. Outlook.iot September 15.

Thb Western Writers' Association. Ida May Davis.
Indianapolis Journal lot September 16.

S. R. Crockett. With portrait. Outlook for September 22.

Literary St. Paul. Rev. John Conway. Midland
Monthly ( 18 c. ) for September.

The Historical Novel. George Saintsbury. Reprinted
from Macmillan^s Magazine in LitteWs Living Age (ai c )
for September 15.

Celia Thaxtbr. With portrait. Eleanor V. Hulton.
Harper's Bazar ( 13 c. ) for September 8.

Reminiscences of Celia Thaxtbr. Harriet Prescott
Spofford. Harper s Bazar ( 13 c ) for September 15.

Thb Late Eugenb Lawrence. With portrait. Harper's
Weekly ( 13 c. ) for September i.

The Boston Public Library. Sylvester Baxter. Har-
per's Weekly ( 13 c. ) for September aa.

Reproducing Pictures for Printing. Harper's Young
People (8c.) for September 4.

Authorship and Grammar. E. R. Latta. Literary
Weekly (13 c.) for September 6.

Mrs. Lydia Hoyt Farmer. With portrait. Literary
Weekly ( 13 c. ) for September 6.

NEWS AND NOTES.

The illness of Stopford Brooke has made
necessary the abandonment for the present of
his visit to this country.

A new magazine, called the Bosionian, is to be
published in Boston, beginning this month. Its
editor will be Arthur Wellington Brayley, and
the periodical will be devoted mainly to the
past and present interests of Massachusetts,
and of Boston in particular. A novel feature
of the publication will be the issuing of two
editions, one in paper covers, at the price of
fifteen cents, and another in cloth binding, at
twenty-five cents.

The Spirit 0/^76 is a new illustrated monthly
magazine published at 14 Lafayette place. New
York, and edited by William H. Bearley. It is
devoted to patriotic objects.

G. O. Shields ("Coquina"), the author of
" Rustlings in the Rockies," " The Big Game
of North America," ** Cruisings in' the Cas-
cades," and several other popular works on
field spoits, has started a new magazine, called
Recreation, It is devoted to hunting, fishing,
and all out-door sports, and is published at 216
William street. New York.

The Picture Magazine of New York is a new
monthly publication, made up of eighty pictures,
with only a line or so of letter-press under each.
H. P. Hubbard is the editor. A similar maga-
zine in England has been very successful.

Boston has a new colored cartoon weekly,
Brother yonathan. The illustrations deal with
subjects similar to those handled by Puck and
yudge, but the process used is similar to that
employed by Truth, Moses Reuben is the
publisher.

Articles of incorporation have been filed at
Baltimore by the Patriotic Literature Publish-
ing Company, capital stock, $5,000. The com-
pany was incorporated for the purpose of print-
ing publications and the sale of newspapers,
books, and magazines. The incorporators were
Walter Vrooman, Robert B. Golden, Charles
H. Myers, James Duncan, and Lawrence
Bradley.

Robert Louis Stevenson thinks it is of the
first importance to the novelist to be well ac-
quainted with the scenes of his stories. " The
author," he tells us, " must know his country-
side, whether real or imaginary, like his hand ;
the distances, the points of the compass, the
place of the sun's rising, the behavior of the
moon, should all be beyond cavil."

" Curtis Yorke's " real name is Mrs. John
Richmond Lee. Mrs. Lee was born and edu-
cated in Glasgow.

Miss Annie Holds worth, whose first story,
" Joanna Traill, Spinster, " was published some
months ago, edits the Woman's Signal in
London and is associated with Mr. Stead in
the literary work of the Review of Reviews,

Jerome K. Jerome has retired from the ed-
itorship of the Idler in favor of his assistant,
Robert Barr. Mr. Jerome has his hands full
with his weekly. To-day.

i6o

THE Writer.

Thomas Bailey Aldrich has been writing
poetry since 1856, when he produced a small
volume ol ballads. He was then a clerk in a
New York counting-room.

George W. Cable has named his summer
home at Northampton, Mass., " Stayawhile."

Among the new books announced by G. P.
Putnam's Sons are : " American Song," a col-
lection of representative American poems, -with
analytical and critical studies of their writers,
edited by A. B. Simonds; "Five Thousand
Words Commonly Misspelled," by W. H. P.
Phyfe ; and " The Best Recent Books," a priced
and classified bibliography, covering the publi-
cations of the year ending December 31, 1893,
and being a supplement to " The Best Books,"
edited by W. Swan Sonnenschein.

" M. E. Francis " is in private life Mrs..Blun-
dell, and resides at Crosby Hall, near Blundell-
sands, Lancashire.

That science affects profoundly even litera-
ture is ably shown in the Popular Science
Monthly for October by Professor W. H.
Hudson, of Stanford University, in a paper on
" Poetry and Science." Tennyson, he says, is
the poet who has most intelligently accepted
the results of modern scientific thought.

Charles A. Dana, editor of the New York
Sun^ is the subject of a comprehensive and
interesting biographical study, by Edward P.
Mitchell, Mr. Dana's chief associate on the
Sun^ in McClure's Magazine for October.
Views of Mr. JDana's office and of his country
home on Long Island and an interesting series
of portraits of him accompany the article.

The gibberish that sometimes appears in the
middle of a sentence or a paragraph, in news-
papers that use the type-setting machines, sim-
ply means a space left blank to be filled up in
the corrected proof. The compositor throws
the tjrpe in higgledy-piggledy, just to keep the
required space ; occasionally the proof is not
corrected, and so the jargon slips into the
newspaper. The Boston Transcript ohstrvts,
apropos of these slips : " When one reads that
« John Blank, while a man of great wealth, was
nevertheless a hyzmnpfctl man,' one feels that,
though it may be perfectly true, it ought not to
be said, under the circumstances."

Rand, McNally, & Co. have in press the
copyright edition of a. new novel, entitled "The
Birth of a Soul," by Mrs. A. Phillips, author of
" Man Proposes."

The Bookseller^ Newsdealer^ and Stationer
(New York) for September 15 is the "fall an-
nouncement number," and contains a complete
revised price list of all domestic and foreign
publications handled by the trade through the
news companies.

The schedules of Charles L. Webster & Co.,
book publishers, New York, of which firm
Samuel L. Clemens (Mark Twain) and Fred-
erick J. Hall were the partners, show liabilities,
$94,191; nominal assets, $122,657; net actual
assets, $54,164.

The New Education (New York) o£Eers
prizes amounting to $725, to subscribers only,
for the best articles on educational topics sub-
mitted before December 31, 1894.

Richard Harding Davis was thirty years old
last April.

"An Intra-mural View of the Ladies' Home
Journar' is a beautifully printed and illustrated
pamphlet describing the Home /ournaPs publi-
cation building. The Curtis Publishing Com-
pany, Philadelphia, will send a copy to any one
on receipt of four cents in stamps.

The Magazine of Poetry (Buffalo) for Sep-
tember contains sketches of Bret Harte, Jean
La Rue Burnett, Henry Coyle, Nora Perry,
S. Jennie Smith, Mary Clemmer, Frederic
Allison Tupper, and other writers.

Besides a photogravure frontispiece and other
attractive features, the Magazine of Art { New
York ) for October has two especially interest-
ing articles, " How and What to Read — Ad-
dressed to Art Students," by J. E. Hodgson,
R. A., and " International Exhibition of Book-
bindings," by Will H. Edmunds, with many
illustrations.

One of the handsomest summer resort periodi-
cals ever issued is the Adirondack News and
Tourist, published weekly during the Adiron-
dack season by F. G. Barry, Saranac Lake,
N. Y. It is a model publication of its kind.

Professor Josiah P. Cooke, of Harvard Col-
lege, died at Newport, September 3.

The

Writer:

A MONTHLY MAGAZINE TO INTEREST AND HELP ALL LITERARY WORKERS.

Vol. VII.

BOSTON, NOVEMBER, 1894.

No.

II.

Entered at the Boston Post-office as second-^lass vail yATTER.

CONTENTS : page

Personal Tributbs to Dr. Holmbs x6i

P. B. SanboTHt Charles Dudley Warner ^ Edward
Eggleston^ Hjalmar Hjorth Boyesen^ W. H. Fur-
neut C. A. Bartol, G, IV. Cable ^ Oscar Fay Adams,
S. F. Smitht Frank L, Stanton, Noah Brooks,
Charles King, Margaret Sidney, Julia C. R. Dorr,
Samuel Minium Peek, Elbridge S. Brooks, Donald
G. Mitchell, Jas. Jeffrey Roche, Nathan Haskell Dole,
Nicholas P. Gilman, Waiiam H. Hayne, Joel Ben-
ton, Grace King, Caroline H. Dall, Edgar Fawcett,
Richard Burton, Junius Henri Browne, A rlo Bates,
Ella Wheeler Wilcox, Hamlin Garland, Hamilton

W. Mabu, J. T. Trowbridge i6i

Editorial. i68

Oliver Wendell Holmes, i68 — Value of a Newspaper's
Title, x68 — Foreign Phrases in English Writing. . . i68
A Lbttbr from Dr. Holmbs. Edward Everett Hale. 169

QtJBRIBS. 169

Thb Scrap Basket 169

Book Reviews 170

LiTEEARY Articles in Periodicals 173

News and Notes 174

PERSONAL TRIBUTES TO DR.

HOLMES.

These personal tributes to the memory of Dr.
Holmes, by leading American writers, have
been written at the request of the editor of
The Writer ; —

DOCTOR HOLMES.

Poet and Wit ! with heartiest love for Man,
Narrowed at first in range, — but wider flowing

When lengthened life unfolded all her plan,
And on his brow mild age was softly snowing.

F. B, Sanborn,
Concord, October 30, 1894.

I cannot undertake to put Dr. Holmes into a
paragraph. It seems to me that the qualities
that made him beloved by his contemporaries,
that stimulated their thought and quickened
their love of humanity, — the intellectual sublety,
the humorous S3anpathy, and the love of his
kind, — ensure him a long literary life. The

strong creative impulse does not commonly
survive threescore years, but at eighty-five the
sparkling mind of Dr. Holmes seemed untouched
by bodily infirmity. It was a ripe fruit that
parted from the bough in an autumn breeze.

Charles Dudley Warner*

Hartford, October 19, 1894.

The vanishing point of the old New Eng
land group of authors was the death of Dr.
Holmes. The productions of this group were
marked by a certain seriousness of aim — a
sobriety of purpose that gave a twilight glow of
Puritan earnestness even to the lighter work of
its members. This underlying seriousness was
relieved by the weird imagination of Hawthorne,
which refused to draw In didactic harness, and it
was yet more relieved by the delightful vivacity
and wit of Holmes. The strain of Dutch descent,
perhaps, made Holmes bubble with a jolly
humor quite unknown to the Massachusetts
Brahmins, of whom he was prone to boast. But
his pen had also that intellectual quality which
gives staying power fo humor. "The Last
Leaf" and "The One Hoss Shay" and the
brilliant sallies of the " Autocrat's Table Talk "
may outlive many productions that wear an air
of greater importance. Such fun will always
seem modern and will prove delightful to suc-
ceeding generations. Edward Eggleston,

Joshua's Rock on Lakb Gborge, October 30, 1894.

The death of Dr. Holmes derives an addi-
tional significance from the fact that it marks
the closing of an era in American literature.
He was the last of the old New England poets.
There was a richness and force of personality
in these men which make them delightful to
contemplate, even apart from their achieve-
ments. Where did we ever meet such sweet-
ness of soul, such noble bearing, and exquisite
urbanity as in Henry Wadsworth Longfellow ?
Where such serene, transcendental wisdom, and

1 62

The Writer.

canny Yankee sense as in Ralph Waldo Emer-
son ? Where is the man among the survivors
who in beauty of person and brightness of in-
tellect can rival James Russell Lowell ? Where
did we ever hear such rich flow of racy talk as
from Oliver Wendell Holmes ? I do not know
why the last, but not the least, in this brilliant
constellation impresses me as a great person-
ality, rather than as a great poet. As a writer of
verse, he is scarcely entitled to a place among
the immortals. But as Oliver Wendell Holmes,
the genial Autocrat, the novelist, the fanciful
and versatile poet, the wit, the wag, the royal com-
panion, /. g,, in the totality of what he was, he
seems to be safe from oblivion for some cen-
turies to come. " Such were the men that New
England produced in the nineteenth century,"
the future historian will say, and point to the
splendid group, of which Oliver Wendell
Holmes was the last.

Hjalmar Hjorth Boyesen,

I have no gift to write obituaries. None
knew Dr. Holmes but to admire him for his
rare wit and to love him for his lovable quali-
ties. I hold with Wordsworth, who says in his
" Essay on Epitaphs " that we do not willingly
analyse the characters of those who have de-
lighted and helped us, the admiration and the
love they have made us feel ; that these senti-
ments are abundant proofs of the worth which
inspires them. ( I quote from memory. )

W* H. Furness.

In animals, bird, beast, insect, bee, grass-
hopper, and fly, poets see images of man-
kind. Dr. Holmes found in a fish a symbol of
the soul. He imported into literature the
chambered nautilus from its navigation of far-
off seas. With his scientific imagination he
naturalized a foreign species for shores it never
sailed to alive, and immortalized a frail creature
in the amber of imperishable thought. It was
fancied that men learned to build vessels from
the nautilus, which means both a sailor and a
ship. There is a spiritual lesson and motive
trom inspired verse. C. A, BartoL

From the day when I read the first page of

Dr. Holmes' work until now, he has seemed to

me to oarry to every mind and mood a sense of

his benevolent presence like nothing else so

much as the call of a kind physician to the bed-
side of a child. In the constellation of Ameri-
can literary masters his light is the kindliest of
all. It shone and must shine on through the
generations as it shone from the first, with the
soft, unvarying glow of a perfect human a£Eec-
tion. We might reasonably fangy him begin-
ning the utterances of a life beyond this in
those words which, with such sweet and pla3rful
pretense of austerity so many years ago, he
began the " Autocrat "— " I was just going to
say, when I was interrupted.". G, IV. Cable,

Northampton, i8th October, i8<m.

In more than one recent notice of the life
of Dr. Holmes I have observed that he was
called "The last of our great poets." When
over-zealous admirers applied the term "great"
to the poet Bryant, the author of " The Fable
for Critics " dryly observed : —

" My friends, you endanger the life of your client
By trying to stretch him up into a giant."

" Great poets " are few and far between in a
century. America has had but one ( Lowell ) in
this of ours ; England, not many. To make
this claim for Holmes is to invite comparison
and criticism with somewhat damaging results.
A delightful author in verse or prose one may
freely and gratefully acknowledge him to be,
but hardly more, so far as his work in general
is concerned. But in the series of poems called
"Wind-clouds and Star-drifts " he comes more
nearly to deserve the descriptive adjective
"great" than elsewhere; but, alas! these are
not the poems of his which his admirers are
enthusiastic about. These they never read.
Perhaps they will one day be read more than
now, and certainly such a hymn as "O Love
Divine," such an exquisite poem as "The
Silent Melody," such others as "The Voice-
less," "The Chambered Nautilus," "Home-
sick in Heaven," and " My Aviary," these we
may hope will long endure, and for them we can
but be sincerely thankful, whether their kindly
author be called " great " or not.

Oscar Fay Adams,

Cambridge, October 19, 1894.

It is a remarkable characteristic of Dr.
Holmes that he reveals himself so fully in his
writings. In his poems, and especially in his
"Autocrat," he reveals most thoroughly his

The Writer.

163

kaleidoscopic mind. The grave and the gay,
the sober and the humorous, the scientific and
the intensely human sides of his nature stand
out so broadly that one needs no biography of
him, except to fill in the comparatively unim-
portant matters of places and dates. He shows
himself a man of wide reading, of an iron
memory, of keen discrimination, of microscopic
observation, of a sweet and genial spirit, of gra-
cious sympathy and roystering joy. As it was
said of Sir Christopher Wren, the architect of
St. Paul's Cathedral in London, " If you seek
his monument, look around you"; so, if it is
asked, " What kind of a man was Dr. Holmes, —
what was the character of his mind?" — the an-
swer is, " Read his works and you will know."

S. F. Smith,

His work was the sunlight of American
literature. Frank Z. Stanton,

Until he reached the age of forty-eight
Oliver Wendell Holmes was known in litera-
ture only as a clever versifier, a writer of witty
occasional poems and metrical essays. At that
period he surprised the world of letters with
his "Autocrat of the Breakfast Table," the
appearance of which was an event of distinct
importance in our literary history. From that
time to the end of his life. Dr. Holmes, — wit,
poet, and social philosopher, — was a notable and
greatly beloved figure in the mental vision of
the English-speaking race. As a writer his
position was unique; he apparently followed
no model; and he leaves neither successors
nor imitators. Noah Brooks,

Castinb, Me., Oct. 20, 1894.

He was to me the prince of our humorists,
the gentlest of our satirists, the gladdest of our
singers. It is only the clay that has returned
to its own. He lives with us and our children
and children's children so long as time shall
last. Charles King ( Capt, U, S, Army),

Oliver Wendell Holmes illustrated, perhaps
better than any of that remarkable circle of
poets of whom he was the surviving member,
the brightness and beauty of life in itself. To
him there were no gloomy thoughts, no darken-
ing shadows of coming or past woe. Sin and
misery appealed most strongly to him, but he
invariably saw Hope ; and Despair, tliat stalks

through life making a tragedy of the common
event to break the universal heart, had no
claim upon his pen. He put the grim monster
gently aside with an imperative farewell, and
then went on to sing a dying hope to life, in the
common heart of man.

O, gentle Autocrat ! As one grows older in
this sad world, one comes to see more and more
thy wise teaching. And to say at last. He who
leads us to the sunshine, and makes us to dwell
in it, is a common benefactor.

Margaret Sidney,

O. w. H.

( August 29, 1809. )

" How shall I crown tUs child ? " fair Summer cried.
" May wasted all her violets long ago ;

No longer on the hills June's roses glow,
FlusMng with tender bloom the pastures wide.
My stately lilies one by one have died :

The clematis b but a ghost— and lo I

In the fair meadow-lands no daisies blow ;
How shall I crown this Summer child ? *' she s^hed.
Then quickly smiled. " For him, for him/' she said,
" On every hill my golden-rod shall flame.
Token of all my prescient soul foretells.
His shall be golden song and golden fame —
Long golden years with love and honor wed—
And crowns, at last, of silver immortelles ! "

Julia C, R. Dorr,

Oliver Wendell Holmes loved all the world,
and all the world loved him. I am sure that I
voice the sentiment of the South in saying that
he appealed to its people with a personality
more vivid than any other writer of New Eng-
land. As a prose writer he possessed, like
Charles Lamb, the greatest of literary charms,
the charm of personal revealment. Who but
Lamb could have written the "Essays of
Elia"? Who but Dr. Holmes "The Auto-
crat" ? I cannot think of one and not recall the
other. As a poet the dead singer is even more
lovable. " The Last Leaf " has fluttered to the
heart of the world, and the wind of forgetful-
ness shall blow in vain.

Samuel Afinturn Peck,

TVSKALOOSA, Ala.

I love to recall my last two glimpses of Dr.
Holmes — one as he read, in a tone that sug-
gested apology and appreciation, certain of his
best-known poems ; the other as he sat laugh-
ing and applauding the bubbling good humor
of Rosina Yokes. I esijeclal^ Vt^'^a?Qs:t^ -^Xscns^.

i64

THE WRITER.

semi-spontaneous production of his '* Old Iron-
sides" poem, in what he called his "fiery
young days/' and I remember, as characteristic
of the man, the annual check sent by him in
support of a certain well-intentioned, but
scantily-supported, medical periodical — not be-
cause he had any use for the publication, but
because he wanted to be " counted in " to help
keep a good thing afloat, so he would write.
Oliver Wendell Holmes may not have been
great, in the sense of genius, nor immortal, as
the world writes its narrowing record of fame ;
but the people will never let die his half-dozen
masterpieces sung in mingling humor and
pathos, nor forget the kindly autocratic ukases
of America's laughing philosopher.

Elbridge S. Brooks.

The paragraph would be a long one which

would take in all that could truly and heartily be

said — of the wit, the humor, the geniality, the

rhetorical art ( which seemed no art ), the large

knowledge, and the sweet humanities that

belonged to Dr. Holmes.

Donald G. MitchelL

Edgbwood, Oct., 1894.

Holmes wa§ the last of our great nineteenth
century writers. He had the happiness, denied
to many a writer, of being appreciated in his
lifetime. His fame will not be lessened as time
goes on and the historical perspective enables
us to compare the great with the small and see
how very great were some whom we knew and
thought we fully understood.

yas* yeffrey Roche.

Dr. Oliver Wendell Holmes is sure of a four-
fold immortality : —

As a physician, by his essay on the Contag-
iousness of Puerperal Fever, published in 1843,
in the New England Journal of Medicine and
Surgery; whereby, like most reformers, he was
exposed for a time to a storm of obloquy and
abuse, though he lived to see the theory
triumphantly vindicated .

As a poet, by " The Chambered Nautilus,"
which stands on the same plane as Words-
worth's great Ode.

As a humorist, by " The Last Leaf."

As a wit, by "The Deacon's One Hoss
Shay." The wit of one generation is not the
wit of another, and, undoubtedly, much of Dr.

Holmes' vers d^occasion will not be understood
a hundred years from now. But whatever may
perish, these things are sure to live.

Those of us who knew the genial Autocrat
still see him large : as a friend, as a man, as a
poet, as a humorist, as a wit. He seemed one of
the men who might live for ever. Hence the
shock of his loss. Nathan Haskell Dole.

Dr. Holmes is sure of a permanent place in
American literature as a novelist and essayist,
the " Autocrat " and " Elsie Venner " being his
greatest achievements. He is far and away
the first of American wits ; he has expressed
Boston so consummately that his fame will endure
as long as the State House stands on Beacon
Hill (how ever changed); he will rank with Sir
Thomas Browne and the two or three other
doctors of medicine who have been also great
physicians of the mind; and some twenty of
his poems are too good to die from the memory
of men while they continue to feel the beauty,
the joy, and the sacredness of life.

Nicholas P. Gilman.

Editor of the LiUrttry Worid^ Boston.

I cannot find it in my heart to refuse your
request to write a paragraph for the Holmes
Memorial Number of your magazine, and yet
it is almost impossible for me to express, in
brief compass, my estimate of such a man as
Oliver Wendell Holmes. Literally it may be
said of him : —

" The light he leaves behind him lies
Upon the paths of men."

It would require greater condensation than I
possess to gauge his power aright, or to weigh
with critical precision the loss our literature
has sustained. Too often we use the word
genius without regard to its full meaning, but
it seems to me an eminently appropriate word
to apply to Dr. Holmes. The opulence and
variety of his gifts were amazing, and he used
them to the best advantage. He had greater
versatility than any of his contemporaries, and
in this respect he towered above them. He
was a poet, essayist, novelist, scientist, and wit ;
and, in these different branches, his success
was merely a question of degree. For more
than threescore years he assiduously cultivated
** his broad mental acres, and reaped from them
an abundant and beautiful harvest." As an

The Writer.

165

essayist and writer of humorous verse he has
received, perhaps, his due meed of praise ; but
it seems to me that he has never been fully ap-
preciated as a serious poet. Such pieces as
«The Chambered Nautilus," "Old Ironsides,"
and " Dorothy Q." have had their share of
recognition, but such a poem as "The Silent
Melody " is seldom mentioned, even in literary
circles. And yet, in my judgment, the pathos
and melody of that lyric are imperishable. It
is to be hoped that future critics will value
aright the strength and sweetness of the poet
who sang until the " curfew " bade him " cover
up the fire."

My admiration of Dr. Holmes* character and
my reverence for his genius are fitly expressed
by these words of Hamlet: —

** Take him all in all, we shall not look upon his like again."

William H. Hayne,

SUMMBRVU.LB, NBAR AuGUSTA, Oa., October 30, 1894.

It is difficult to speak briefly of Dr. Oliver
Wendell Holmes without omitting much one
would like to say. He was not our greatest
writer in the Boston group of authors, but he
was versatile beyond any one of them. All of
his faculties — and they were many — were
awake constantly. He was not a Homer, for
the proverb says that even Homer would some-
times nod, while the fact with Dr. Holmes was
that he never did. But he was more than an
author, poet, and wit ; he had a unique person-
ality. He was a Brahmin by birth and instinct,
and yet he was. not the prisoner of his environ-
ment. He might and did prefer Boston to any
part of the universe, as its centre or " hub," but
he could maintain very easy and genial relations
with other people than Bostonians.

One of his most notable books — "Mechan-
ism in Morals " — I am sure not one in fifty of
his admirers has ever read. It is a small, thin
volume, full of the weightiest and wittiest dis-
course. I cannot think of any other American
author who could have written it.

His ♦• Autocrat of the Breakfast Table " ex-
presses him at bis best and roundest, but he has
left hia fluent and lambent touch on all that he
wrote. His poetry is poured into forms that
Pope and his contemporaries used, but these
forms fitted best his genius. Much of his occa-
sional verse, of which there was a large quan-

tity, was written to be delivered ; and Holmes
lets us into his secret so far as to say that the
human breath in elocution fits itself better to
the octosyllabic verse and to forms related
thereto than to any other. Though he wrote
lyrics, to be sure, his muse was not l3rrical in
itself.

One thing about his poems is that they gave
us always the latest news and often the latest
science. These things, too, colored his prose.
He made conversation in literature, tending to
monologue, an immense instrument and a per-
ennial delight. His thought was broad and lib-
erating. His spirit, jocund often, was like
Ariel's. Some of his mots require culture to
understand, as when he said of Bishop Berkeley
that " he thought tar water everything and the
universe nothing." But the point, and glow,
and felicity were never absent from them. His
was a most wholesome personal and literary
influence — one that was felt, too, across the
sea. It will be a long time before we have an-
other such Admirable Crichton to charm and
honor us, and whose loss could be so much
lamented. yoel Benton,

After the death of one whom we love, we can
only try to convey our sense of loss by express-
ing our sense of obligation. But what one
owes to an author whom one has loved from
childhood contains so much of personal record,
that it seems to be matter rather for private
confession and meditation than public ack-
nowledgment. And thus I feel that my in-
ability to express what I would about Dr.
Holmes is in itself the most adequate expres-
sion of my gratitude and affection to him.

Grace King,

Mandbvillb, La., October 33, 1894.

In no writer of our time, if we except Bulwer,
can we discern so great a change — as years
passed on — as in Dr. Holmes. As a poet — at
firsts-only a delicate fancy marked his work, or
an equally delicate wit. Later — he touched
deeper chords with reverent sentiment and an
extraordinary happiness of epithet. It was as
"The Autocrat of the Breakfast Table " that he
first won popular sympathy. The title was
fortunately chosen — for " Autocrat " he was by
nature. But with the use of the word a certain
consciousness came to him, and from that hour
his sympathies broadened— he took^a&svt^xsji^x-

i66

THE Writer.

est in others, and less in himself and his fancies.
Above all things, he desired to keep " The Last
Leaf " green. In March, 1892, I had occasion
to make some inquiries of him, and desired
that he would not trouble himself to reply, but
employ any young person near. He wrote me
so full a holograph that I could not resist
saying : " It is evident you are the youngest
person to be found." Caroline H, DalL

Washington, Oct. 19, 1894.

If I were a critic, and armed in all the ag-
gressive grandeurs of one, I should feel my
love for Dr. Holmes' best writing destroy
every impulse to sit in judgment upon his
second best. He was not, to my thinking, the
mere "laughing philosopher" that so many
recent commentators have called him. He was
a deep and keen thinker, and in every way sympa-
thized with modern rationalistic movements.
The full measure of his intellectual! sm was by no
means expressed in his poetry; and yet his
finer lyrics have a lark-like quality almost
unique. Others are far below these, though
some of his " occasional " poems are the best
that any one in any known time has ever written.
Nothing that he did in verse will entitle him to
be called great ; not a little that he did in prose
will entitle him to be called masterly. As a
personality, a life, he seems to me the sane and
wholesome and joyous perfection of contempo-
rary human aim and achievement. As a man of
letters he takes rank among the highest. As a
wit, a humorist, whom can we place above him ?
I value beyond words the memory of talks held
with him, and the gift of precious letters re-
ceived from his gracious and graceful pen.

Edgar FawcetL

Dr. Holmes, as an essayist, will remain a
permanent worthy of American literature. He
was a natural Autocrat, in whom wit and wisdom
were happily blended. As a poet, his work,
while it possesses grace, humor, and charm, has
not the highest imaginative quality. "The
Chambered Nautilus" and "The One Hoss
Shay " are his finest things in the lyric and
homely-humorous veins respectively. But
Holmes' serious verse, especially in its form, is
of secondary importance, and was, in a sense, old-
fashioned and restricted to the last. His work
|n fiction must not be overlooked in any just

estimate. "Elsie Venner" was a remarkable
novel when it appeared over thirty years ago :
it is still a noteworthy performance, in spite of
the great advance since in the technique of fic-
tion in the United States. Critical judgments
on Dr. Holmes are peculiarly difficult, because
of the social magnetism of the man, his unique
place in the hearts of his contemporaries.

Richard Burton,

Oliver Wendell Holmes was exceptionally
fortunate in his life and in his death. As a
literary artist, he was so singularly versatile that
he has gained less fame, famous as he is, in any
one branch of letters than he would have gained
had his range been limited. As an author,
speaking in the widest sense, he was spared,
through his independent means, the trials and
the hardships that so commonly beset his guild..
Had he been compelled to live by his pen, he
would probably have died before fifty, for he
was the reverse of robust. Dr Holmes' cheer-
ful, almost optimistic, spirit served him in place
of vigorous health, and sustained his intellect
and buoyancy to the very end. Although
spoken of by British critics, with characteristic
self-complacency, as having modelled himself on
British writers, he was wholly American, and
himself. Unquestionably a man of genius, he
was at his highest as a humorist and social
philosopher. His best work, I think, is the
" Autocrat," as delightful as it is brilliant and
original. But all his writings are a precious
legacy to his Country and his epoch.

Junius Henri Browne.

Nbw York, October 19th, 1894.

The death of Dr. Holmes is striking and
significant, not only from the heaviness of the
loss in the man, but from the fact that with
him ends the . most brilliant period which
American letters has known. We cannot
forget that he was the last survivor of the
group of writers which first gave to this country
a national and individual literature worthy the
name. The men who remain are different in
temper and different in aim. Emerson, Motley,.
Whittier, Longfellow, Hawthorne, and Holmes,,
as compared with Aldrich, Howells, James, and
still more, as compared with younger men, were
lacking in cosmopolitanism. There is always
evident in their work a disregard of any world

The Writer.

167

outside of New England; and he who reads
between the lines sees easily that for them the
Saturday Club comes near to being the court
of ultimate appeal. The thing which makes
their writings of lasting value and raises their
work to the dignity of literature is that they
had fine reverence for literary tradition, and,
above all, that they believed in imagination
rather than in elaboration, holding that obser-
vation should be its servant and not its master.
With the extinction of this group ends the
continuity of literary tradition in America, and
however good and great the new may be, to see
the old vanish must bring to every lover of
literature a deep sense of melancholy.

Arlo Bates,

He occupied a unique and distinctive place

in American literature.

Ella Wheeler Wilcox.

Hartford, October xg, 1894.

I paid my first tribute to Oliver Wendell
Holmes by listening to our hired man (out in
the cornfield ) recite " How the Old Hoss Won
the Bet." I sat on a pumpkin while the hired
man rolled o£E those sounding lines, wherein
the hoof-strokes throbbed and the sulky wheels
flashed in the sun. That was poetry compre-
hensible to a boy of sixteen whose life was
spent largely on horseback. A year or two
later I made my schoolmates feel it in the
chapel at " Friday exercises." It does not mean
as much to me now, but "The Autocrat" means
more. The essayist rises higher than the poet
— witty, tender; wise in human frailty, but
never bitter. Hamlin Garland,

Chicago, October 19.

New England has had no more genuine rep-
resentative than Dr. Holmes on the intellectual
side; he had its strength, and he had also its
limitations. His quickness, keenness, pungency,
lucidity, and wit were the characteristic quali-
ties of his ancestry and his section brought to
the highest point of development and touched
with genius. His mind had a marvellous agility,
accuracy, and versatility ; it turned, like a gem,
many ways, and light flashed from every facet
which it presented. He was investigator, physi-
cian, novelist, poet, philosopher, critic, lec-
turer; and whatever he did was done with

brilliancy, insight, and finish. He did not, like
Lowell, voice the intense moral earnestness of
New England; nor did he, like Whittier and
Emerson, compass its highest reaches of spirit-
ual elevation; but its moral health, its keen,
swift movement of mind, and its untiring curi-
osity and energy were his in high degree. He
was much more a man of the world than Emer-
son, Longfellow, Hawthorne, or Whittier, but it
was the best world for which he cared — the
world of thought, of wit, of contact with the best
in life and art, of the highest breeding and the

keenest sense of honor.

Hamilton W. Mabie,

It is impossible to sum up in only a few
words impressions of a many-sided man like
Oliver Wendell Holmes. I shall, therefore,
touch upon only one phase of his extraordinary
personality, and this I will illustrate with an
anecdote. One afternoon, some years ago, I
chanced to call upon Mr. Longfellow just after
he had received a visit from the doctor. " What
a delightful man he is ! " said he. " But he has
left me, as he generally does, with a headache."
When I inquired how that came about, he re-
plied, " The movement of his mind is so much
more rapid than mine that I often find it diffi-
cult to follow him, and if I keep up the strain
for any length of time, a headache is the usual
penalty."

I met the Autocrat on many and various
occasions, and was always impressed — though
never oppressed — by the trait ascribed to him
by Longfellow — the phenomenal rapidity of
his mental processes. Not that he talked fast,
but that his turns of thought were surprisingly
bright and quick, and often made with a kind of
scientific precision, charmingly in contrast with
the looseness of statement which commonly
characterizes the conversation of those who
speak volubly and think fast. I never saw him
when his genius did not seem to be thus alive
and alert. In view of this habitual vivacity,
how we must marvel at his length of life, meas-
ured not by years, but by the amount of thought
and feeling and spiritual energy that animated
— I had almost said electrified — him through-
out his long and brilliant career.

J, T, Trowbridge.

Arlington, October 30, 1894.

i68

THE WRITER.

The Writer.

Psblkhed monthly by The Writer Publishing Company, aSa
Washington street, Rooms g and lo, Boston, Mass.

WILLIAM H. HILLS,

• •

Editor.

%*ThbWritbr is published the first day of every month.
It will be sent, post-paid, Onb Year for Onb Dollar.

*** All drafts and money orders should be made payable to
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%*Thb Writbr will be sent only to those who have paid for
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order is accompanied by a remittance. When subscriptions ex-
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order for renewal, accompanied by remittance, is received. Due
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%* No sample copies of Thb Writbr will be sent free.

%*The American News Company, of New York, and the
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are wholesale agents for Thb Writbr. It may be ordered
from any newsdeaJer, or direct, by mail, from the publisher.

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%* Contributions not used will be returned, if a stamped and
addressed envelope is enclosed.

THE WRITER PUBLISHING CO.,

383 Washington street ( Rooms 9 and 10 ),

p. O. Box 1905. Boston, Mass.

Vol. VII. November, 1894. No. 11.

No one among the younger readers of " The
Autocrat of the Breakfast Table " to-day can
help envying those who were fortunate enough,
nearly forty years ago, to have the opportunity
of reading those delightful papers as they ap-
peared month after month in the Atlantic^
when all the contemporaneous allusions con-
tained in them were fresh and so easily under-
stood at sight by every reader. So those who
may come after us will envy us the privilege
of having lived when Longfellow, and Lowell,
and Whittier, and Holmes were still actual
personalities, and of knowing them from them-
selves as well as from their books. That Dr.
Holmes' genius was fully appreciated by his
contemporaries is attested by the interesting
estimates of him contributed by leading Ameri-

can authors to this number of The Writer.
That his reputation will be a lasting one all who
are familiar with his many-sided works will
readily agree. His eminence in American lit-
erature is shown most clearly by the general
acknowledgment that, now that he is gone,
there is no one among living writers in this
country who can take his place.

»*»
In the October number of The Writer a
news note said that the pamphlet, " An Intra-
mural View of the Ladies* Home Journal^^'* de-
scribed "the Home yournaPs building." The
publishers of the Home yournal^ New York,
say in a letter since received : —

We clip this paragraph from the latest number of Thb
Writbr and desire to call your attention to the error of fact.
The publication referred to describes not the Homg JimmiU
building, but the building of the Ladits* Home Journal. The
title of a newspaper is not the smallest part of its stock in trade.
Your interesting journal is not given to making errors, and we
beg that you will excuse us for directing your kind attention to
this mistake.

Very truly yours,

Morris Philxips & Co.

•••

There is usually something to be said on
both sides of every question, but Lucy C. Bull
does not present a very strong argument in her
article in the North A merican Review discus-
sing the use of foreign phrases in English writ-
ing. ** It is difficult," she says, " to see reason
in the objections urged by many against the use
of foreign phrases whenever it is possible to
avoid them. The day of American indifference
to things transatlantic is indeed gone by ; nor
is it probable that the extreme position of Mr.
Bryant in excluding foreign phrases from the
daily paper of which he was editor will ever
again be taken by a man of his breadth of
mind. The current is setting in another direc-
tion and a due regard for other standards than
our own in art, in politics, and in the amenities
of life is replacing the disposition to ignore
them. Yet that contempt for things foreign
which reached its height some fifty years ago
was too deep-rooted not to survive in certain
modes of thought, and to this source it may
not be altogether unreasonable to refer the
dislike of foreign phrases. No doubt the abuse
of classical quotations and French phrases by
ornate writers has prejudiced many against

The Writer.

169

even a moderate use of things good in them-
selves. Yet it is hard to see why a happy
medium may not be struck between use and
abuse."

• **

There may be a few foreign words and
phrases which do not have an exact equivalent
in English, and the use of which in English
writing is for that reason sometimes excusable,
but such phrases are very, very few — so rare,
indeed, that they a£Eord only the exception in-
evitable in the case of every general rule. The
best way is to avoid the use of anything but
English words wherever it is possible, leaving
the few cases where the use of a foreign phrase
is essential to take care of themselves. If a
writer starts with this idea, he will be astonished
to see how few foreign words are necessities in
his vocabulary. He will find, for example, that
that favorite phrase " nom de plume," so often
wrongly used for " nom de guerre," is no more
expressive than " pen name " or " pseudonym,"
and so it is with most of the other foreign
phrases that authors have a tendency to use.
A writer should remember that even in these
days of general education very many of his
readers do not know any language other than
English, and that if he wants to be fully under-
stood by every reader he must govern himself
accordingly. In ninety-nine cases out of a hun-
dred the use of foreign phrases is an affectation,*
and, like all other affectations, should be avoided
by those who want to write in the most effec-
tive way. w. H. H.

♦

A LETTER FROM DR. HOLMES.

To the Editor of The Writer :

My Dear Sir, — Your readers will be inter-
ested in the following note from Dr. Holmes, in
which he describes **The Great Unwritten
Article " : —

164 Charles Street, December 7, 1869.

My Dear Mr. Hale, — I shall keep your note as a reminder
that I hope sometime or other to take up the p>en which I have
not cared to meddle with often of late. In the'mean time, you
may be assured that nothing that one commits to paper is ever
half so good as his great Unwritten Articlb.

Like an Easter egg, that unhatched production ~ its unbroken
shell, I mean —is stained — by the reader-that-is-to>be's imagi-
tation I mean — with every brilliant hue of promise. Break it
and you have the usual albuminous contents ; keep it whole
and you can feast your eyes on its gorgeous color, and yoor

mind with the thought that it carries the possibility of a
Phoenix.

Say, then, that you have the/^^mM^ of an article from one of
the most etceterable and etceteraed of our native writers, and
it will be like a signed check with the amount left blank.

Prophets and priests may desire it long and die without the
sight, but will die saying, " When the great Unwritten Arti-
cuc do«i come, then you will see ! " and so turn their faces to
the wall.

Let us leave it unwritten, then, for the present, and think
how much more precious is an infinite series of undefined ex-
pectations than any paltry performance or transient fruition.

In the mean time, believt me always very sincerely and faith-
fully yours, O. W. Holmes.

I am truly yours,

Edward Everett Hale,

QUERIES.

( I . ) What newspapers pay for letters from
foreign countries?

( 2. ) What is requisite to make translations
of German poems or short stories acceptable ?

( 3. ) What is the best way to get articles into
a newspaper 1 e. e.

[ ( I. ) There is practically no sale for letters
from foreign countries. Such matter is usu-
ally gratuitous, and it is hard to place even
when no payment is expected.

( 2. ) Translations, like letters of travel, are
hard to sell. In the case of short stories, they
must be new. In the case of poems, it does
not matter so much whether they have been
previously translated or not. Success with
translated poems depends principally on the
merit of the translation.

(3.) The best way to approach a newspaper
editor is to send him a manuscript and o£Eer it
for sale. — w. h. h. ]

THE SCRAP BASKET.

For many years, in almost every issue of
The Writer, I have noticed authors' com-
plaints of long delays of some publishers in
reading manuscripts. In my own experience I
recall one magazine editor who waited nearly
thirteen months before writing, "The story,

, is accepted." As a matter of news,

pleasing to authors, I imagine it would be of
interest to know that the editor of one New
York magazine (the American Angler) has
certainly broken the recot^L \\sl ^x^\ss^^asM*^^'*^

I70

THE WRITER.

least, A story sent to him recently brought the
following reply: "Your note, with manuscript,
received ten ( lo ) minutes ago. I will have the
photos reproduced, and the article printed in
our November issue." j. e. g.

Toledo, O.

Speaking of " Inconsistencies of Illustration,"
— a subject discussed at some length in recent
issues of The Writer, — two recent examples
may be noted. In the October Century ( p. 882 )
Mrs. Burton Harrison describes a young lady
as "attired in a white morning frock and a
sash of white satin belted around the waist."
On p. 889 Irving R. Wiles' illustration makes
the sash dark enough to be black. Somewhere
else I have recently seen a picture illustrating
the interior of a room. The author describes
" a small four-paned window — the only one in
the room," and the illustrator has not only put
in a twelve-pane sash, but has made the man
sitting there, who was described as very short,
so tall that even when seated his head was
almost on a level with the top of the second
pane. h. e. r.

San FRANasco, Calif.

BOOK REVIEWS.

Back Country Pobms. By Sam Walter Foss. Illustrated.
258 pp. Cloth, $1.50. Boston: Lee & Shepard. 1894.

This new edition of the collected poems of
Sam Walter Foss will be welcomed by count-
less readers. Mr. Foss is a genuine Yankee
poet, and his work is distinguished by the
sound sense and shrewd humor characteristic
of the native New Englander. His poems
have had a wide circulation in the newspapers,
and scores of them are scrap-book favorites.
They picture the back-country life of New
England as it really is, and in such a way that
those who are most familiar with it can get the
keenest pleasure from them. It is a pleasure
to see them published in this attractive new
illustrated edition. w. h. h.

Armazindy. By James Whitcomb Rile^. 169 pp. Cloth,
^1.25. Indianapolis: The Bowen-Memll Company. 1894.

Now that Dr. Holmes is gone, there are
critics who are almost ready to accord to James
Whitcomb Riley the first place among living
American poets. Those who regard him sim-
ply as a dialect writer do not do justice to the
variety and the originality of his work. Many
of his best poems are not in dialect, and some
of the dialect poems that have won the widest
fame would be hardly less attractive if they

were recast in ordinary speech. This new vol-
ume includes all of Mr. Riley's latest work, and
well illustrates the variety of his genius. There
is one piece of prose, " Twiggs and Tudens."
The rest is poetry, and it ranges from " Arma-
zindy," the dialect piece which gives the title to
the book, to the long poem, " An Idyl of the
King," and the children's verses that conclude
the volume. An interesting feature of the book
is the poem " Leonainie," which Riley wrote
early in his career in imitation of the style of
Poe, with such success that even such an excel-
lent literary authority as E. C. Stedman main-
tained that Poe unquestionably wrote it. The
author has never permitted it to be printed in
his other volumes. w. h. h.

LovB IN Idlbnrss. a tale of Bar Harbor. By F. Marion
Crawford. With illustrations produced from drawings and
photographs. Cloth, $2.00. I^ew York : Macmillan & Co.
1894.

This holiday edition of Mr. Crawford's new
story of Bar Harbor life forms an attractive
addition to the well-known Cranford Series.
The charm of the story, which won general
favor when it was first published in the Century .^
is enhanced now by a wealth of artistic half-tone
illustrations, made from photographs and draw-
ings of Bar Harbor scenery. These illustra-
tions alone would make the book valuable to
any one who has ever been at Bar Harbor or
who is interested in any way in Maine's famous
summer resort. With its tasteful binding, full
gilt edges, and exquisite typography, the vol-
ume deserves a leading place among the holi-
day publications of 1894. w. H. h.

A History op the United States. By Allen C. Thomas,
A. M. 410 and Ixxii. pp. Half leather, $1.25. Boston:
D. C. Heath & Co. 1894.

The value of this new history of the United
States consists largely in the detailed attention
given to late events, much the greater portion
of the book being devoted to the era beginning
with 1789. Throughout special attention is
given to the political, social, and economic
development of the nation. The book is well
illustrated, the later portraits being half-tone
cuts, with all the value of original photographs.

w. H. H.

Outlines of Practical Hygiene. By C. Gilman Currier.
M. D. 468 pp. Cloth, $2.75. New York: £. B. Treat,
1894.

The importance of living under the best hy-
gienic conditions is manifest to every one. Dr.
Currier has made a careful study of all modern
treatises bearing on the subject of practical hy-
giene adapted to American conditions, and of
current periodical literature relating to the same
topic, and has added to the knowledge thus
gained the results of intelligent observation
and medical experience. His book, therefore,
is a summary of information on the subject of
which it treats, and it cannot fail to be helpful

The Writer.

171

in teaching methods for the prevention of dis-
ease. The chapter headings are: Soil and
Climate, Clothing and Protection of the Body,
Bathing and Personal Hygiene, Physical Exer-
cise, Schools and Their Influence on Health,
Occupation, Lighting, Buildings and Streets,
Heatine, Ventilation, Foods, Food Preparation
and Adaptation, Diet, Water and Water Sup-
plies, Disposal of Fluid Waste, Sewers, House
Drainage, Plumbing, Disposal of the Dead,
Bacteria and Disease, Infectious Diseases,
Disinfection. A full index greatly enhances
the value of the work. w. h. h.

A Practical Trbatisb on Nbrvous Exhaustion (Nburas*
thbnia). By George M. Beard. A. M., M. D. Edited, with
notes and additions, by A. D. Rockwell, A. M., M. D. Third
edition, enlarged, a6a pp. Qoth, ^3.75. New York: E. B.
Treat. 1894. •

Literary workers so frequently become vic-
tims of neurasthenia, that for them this treatise
by the late Dr. Beard and Dr. Rockwell has a
special value, particularly as Dr. Rockwell says
that it is admitted by all whose experience en-
titles their opinion to weight that the disease is
in most instances entirely curable, and in some
cases self-curable. All that modern medical
science knows of nervous exhaustion is in-
cluded in this work, the third edition of which
has been enlarged and brought up to date in all
respects. w. h. h.

Thb Pbarl op India. Maturin M. Ballou. 335 pp. Cloth,
$1.50. Boston : Houghton, Mifflin, & Co. 1894.

It is always entertaining to travel with Mr.
Ballou. His latest volume describes the attrac-
tions and beauties of Ceylon, "gem of the
Orient," which is now traversed so generally by
railways and excellent government roads, Mr.
Ballou says, that there is very little hardship to
be encountered in visiting its remotest districts.
Everything about Ceylon that any one could
wish to know is included in the book. To
travellers it will be a helpful guide in journey-
ing about the island, and those who must ao
their travelling by the fireside will find it most
delightful reading. w. h. h.

Thb Chasb of Saint-Castin, and Othbr Talbs. By
Mary Hartwell Catherwood. 266 pp. Cloth, $1.25. Bos-
ton : Houghton, Mifflin, & Co. 1894.

This collection of short stories by Mrs. Cath-
erwood possesses more than ordinary interest.
Amone Western writers Mrs. Catherwood de-
servedly holds a leading place, and each new
volume' strengthens her position among the
more prominent American writers of to-day.
The stories in the book are full of dramatic in-
terest, and they are sure to entertain the
reader. w. h. h.

A Florida Skbtch-book. By Bradford Torrey. 242 pp.
Cloth, $1.25. Boston : Houghton* Mifflin, & Co. 1894.

Mr. Torrey*s sketches of outdoor life are
always so delightful that a new volume of them
is certain of a warm welcome by a host of

readers. The pictures of Florida in this new
" sketch-book " are true to nature and full of
suggestive thought. The chapter headings are;
In the Flat-woods, Beside the Marsh, On the
Beach at Daytonia, Along the Hillsborough,
A Morning at the Old Sugar Mill, On the
Upper St. John's, On the St. Augustine Road,
Ornithology on a Cotton Plantation, A Florida
Shrine, and Walks about Tallahassee.

w. H. H.

Trilby. By George Du Maurier. 464 pp. Illustrated.
Cloth, ^1.75. New York: Harper & Bros. 1894.

The attention of readers of The Writer is
called to the article entitled "A Criticism of
* Trilby,' " published in the October number of
the magazine. In addition to what was said
there it is necessary to say now only that the
book has been issued in an illustrated volume
by Harper & Bros., and that the publishers are
having hard work to print copies enough to
supply the public demand. Those who have
read the story as it appeared serially in Har-
per's Magazine will be interested to observe
now ingeniously the part published in the Feb-
ruary number has been changed, to appease the
outraged feelings of Mr. Whistler, who was
caricatured in it by the author. w. H. h.

LouRDBS. By Emile Zola. 486 pp. Cloth, ^1.25. Chicago:
F. Tennyson Neely. 1894.

If for no other reason, general interest in
M. Zola's latest novel is sure to be excited by
the fact that it has been put on the index
expurgatorius of the Roman Catholic church.
The story attracted much attention as it was
published recently in several of the newspapers
of America. Now it is issued complete in a
single portly volume, well-printed and bound,
as the introductory volume of Neely *s Inter-
national Library. In its new form it \t sure
to have a widespread circulation. w. h. h.

Thb Jbromb Banners. Comprising The Rest Banner.
The Joy Banner, The Every-Day Banner, and What Will
the Violets Be? By Irene £. Jerome. 50 cents each.
Boston : Lee & Shepard. 1894.

Among the attractive art novelties of the
Christmas season these dainty banners are
sure to take a prominent place. Each leaflet
or banner consists of four parts, beautifully
decorated in colors and gold, attached by rib-
bons of appropriate shades, combined with
extracts from popular authors, and enclosed Id
decorated envelopes. Each banner when hune
is about twenty-one inches long by seven and
one-half inches wide. Miss Jerome's designs
are tasteful and artistic, and the banners will
find favor with all lovers of the beautiful.

w. H. H.

Bbcausb I LovB You. Edited by Anna E. Mack. 228 ppi..
Cloth, %\ 50. Boston : Lee & Shepard. 1894.

This dainty volume of love poems contains
many gems of poetry, and that^ vs* Vc^ct^io^ -^

«72

The Writer.

poem in the book which the general reader will
not find attractive. More than 130 authors are
represented, most of them by their best work.
Miss Mack has shown good taste and fine dis-
crimination in her labor of selection, and her
compilation is bound to be a popular one. The
book is admirably adapted for a Christmas gift.

Ti» H. H.

A Hilltop Summbr. By Alyn Yates Keith. Illustrated,
no pp. Qoth, $1.25. Boston : Lee & Shepard. 1894.

The sketches in " A Hilltop Summer " were
originally published in the A^€w York Evening
Post, and are now put into book form at the
request of many readers. They depict in a
•charming way the life of a New England coun-
try town, witnessed during a pleasant summer
sojourn. The volume is beautified by many
illustrations. w. h. H.

" Sirs, Only Sbvbntbbn." By Virginia F. Townsend. 323
pp. Cloth, $1.50. Boston: Lee & Shepard. 1894.

Miss Townsend's books are always entertain-
ing, and this latest story is no exception to the
rule. The scene is laid chiefiy in Boston and
vicinity, and among the chief characters are
Dorothy Draycutt and her brother Tom, a Har-
vard student. The plot of the story is well
planned, and the reader's interest is maintained
until the end. w. h. h.

AfoLLiB MiLLBR. By Effie W. Merriman. Illustrated. 385
pp. Cloth, 1 1.25. Boston: Lee & Shepard. 1894.

" Mollie Miller " is a sequel to Mrs. Merri-
man's story, " The Little Millers," and takes
Mollie, Ned, and Max, and their adopted child,
Johnnie, through the pleasures and vicissitudes
of youth. The story is wholesome and inter-
estmg — the best that Mrs. Merriman has writ-
ten up to the present time. w. h. h.

Asiatic Brbbzbs. By Oliver Optic. Illustrated. 361 pp.
Cloth, $1.35. Boston: Lee & Snepard. 1894.

"Asiatic Breezes," Oliver Optic's latest
story, is the fourth and concluding volume
of the second series of the " AU-Over-the-
World Library." The book takes its heroes
though the Mediterranean sea and the Suez
canal, and incidentally a great deal of informa-
tion is given about the great canal and the
different countries that are visited. The
story is full of exciting incidents, and there
is no live boy who would not read it with the
keenest interest. w. h. h.

^BB Lucy. By Sophie May. Illustrated. 164 pp. Cloth,
75 cents. Boston : Lee & Shepard. 1894.

There are grown men and women now who
-were delighted when they were young with
Sophie May's stories about "Little Prudy"
and " Dotty Dimple," and who will be glad to
Jbuy for their own children this new book by
the same author about the children of " Little
Prudy." Sophie May's stories of child life
need no new commendation. They are whole-

some and natural, and children always read
them with delight. w. H. H.

I Am Wbll! By C. W. Post. Second edition. 147 ppu
Cloth, $1.25. Boston : Lee & Shepard. 1894.

" I Am Well " is a treatise on the modem
practice of natural sufi;gestion as distinct from
hypnotic or unnatural influence. It explans the
principles of mental healing, and is an authori-
tative exponent of the views concerning the true
nature of health and disease advocated by the
author. The I act that this is the second edi-
tion of the work is evidence that it has been
found useful by many readers. w. H. H.

BOOKS RECEIVED.

[AH books sent to the editor of Tkb WKmn will beafr
knowledged under this heading. They will reoeiTe toch fortlMr
notice as may be warranted by their importance to reader* of

the magazine.]

/ — — ^—

Duck Crbbk Ballads. By John Henton Carter ( Comno-
dore Rollingpin). 204 pp. Qoth. New York: H. C
Nixon. 1894.

Whitbr Than Snow. By the author of " Juror No. «/
227 pp. Paper, 25 cents. New York : J. S. OgilTie Pub-
lisning Company. 1894.

Thb Man from thb Wbst. By a Wall-street Man. 146 pp.
Paper, 50 cents. New York : J. S. OgUvie Publishing Com-
pany. 1894.

Thb Birth of a Soul. By Mrs. A. Phillipa. 336 pp.
Paper, 50 cents. Chicago : Rand, McNally, & Co. 1894.

Essays on Qubstions of thb Day. By Goldwin Smith.
384 pp. Cloth, 1 1.2 s. New York: Macmillan & Co. 1894.

A Patch of Pansibs. By J. Edmund V. Cooke. 89 pp.
Cloth, $1.00. New York : G. P. Putnam*s Sons. 1894.

Thb Flutb-playbr, and othbr Pobms. By Frauds Howard
Williams. 128 pp. Qoth, $x. 00. New York: G.P.Put-
nam's Sons. 1894.

LITERARY ARTICLES IN PERIODICALS.

[The publisher of Thb Writbr will send to any addre« a
copy of any magazine mentioned in the following reference Hit
on receipt of the amount given in parenthesis following the lUUM
— the amount being in each case the price of the periodical
wiih three cents postage added. Unless a price is given, the
periodical must be ordered from the publication office. Reaiden
who send to the publishers of the periodicak indexed for ooplee
containing the articles mentioned in the list will confer a favor
if they will mention Thb Writbr when they writa.]

Thb Hawthornbs in Lbnox. Told in letters by Nathaidd
Hawthorne, Sophia Hawthorne, Herman MelTille, and otheia.
Edited by Rose Hawthorne Lathrop. CenHtrf ( 38 c ) for
November.

My First Book. Rudyard Kipling. McClur€*s
( 18 c. ) for November.

A. Conan Dovlb Intbrvibwbd by Robbrt Bakk.
Clure^s Magasine ( 18 c. ) for November.

Dr. a. Conan Doylb and His Work. Gilaon WiUttt.
Current Literature (28 c. ) for November.

OuvRR Wbndbll Holmbs. John W. Chadwidu F^
( 28 c. ) for November.

The Writer.

173;

Fbkgus Mackbnzib, Mrs. Lydia Hoyt Farmbr, Kath-

BXINB p. WORMBLSY, HbNRY M. FiBLD, ViOLBT HvNT.

CurreMi LiUraiurs ( 38 c. ) for November.

Thackbray's Placb in Litbraturb. Frederic Harrison.
Fornm ( 38 c. ) for November.

Thb Nbwspapbr Prbss op thb Unitbo Statbs. Franklin
Matthews. Ckautan^uan (38 c. ) for November.

Gbnbral O. O. Howard. Vl^th portrait. Herbert John-
ston. CkoMtauquan ( 28 c. ) for November.

Thb Rbligion op Embrson. W. H. Savage. Arena ( 53 c. )
for November.

Elbction Night in a Nbwspapbr Ofpicb. Julian Ralph.
ScrUmer's (a8 c. ) for November.

Thb Modbrn Novbl. Amelia E. Barr. North American
Review ( 53 c. ) for November.

Boswbll's Proof-shbbts. George Birkbeck Hill. Atlantic
Hanihly ( 38 c. ) for November.

Thb Academic Trbatmbnt of English. H. E. Scudder.
Atlantic Monthly {1% c. ) for November.

Nbwspapbr Choices. Charles Dudley Warner. Editor's
Study, Harper's ( 38 c. ) for November.

Glimpses of Artist-ufb. The Punch Dinner. M. H.
Spielmann. Magazine of Art ( 38 c. ) for November.

My Literary Passions. William Dean Howells. Ladies*
Home Journal (13 c.) for November.

Magazine Fiction, and How Not to Write It. Fred-
eric M. Bird. Lippincotfs (28 c. ) for November.

The Washington Correspondent. E. J. Gibson. Lip-
pincotfs ( 28 c. ) for November.

William Cullen Bryant. Brander Matthews. St. Nich'
olas ( 28 c. ) for November.

Bryant's Centennial. William R. Thayer. Reviews of
Reviews ( 28 c ) for October.

PoE IN Nbw York. Letters edited by George E. Woodberry .
Century ( 38 c. ) for October.

Folk-speech in America. Edward Eggleston. Century
( 38 c. ) for October.

Edmund Clarence Stedman. With frontispiece portrait.
Royal Contissoy. Century ( 38 c. ) for October.

Rbcollbctions. Aubrey De Vere. Century ( 38 c. ) for
October.

Aubrey De Verb. With portrait. George E. Woodberry .
Century ( 38 c. ) for October.

Commercial Bookbinding. Brander Matthews. Century
( 38 c. ) for October.

The Half-tone Process. William Shaw. American
Journal 0/ Photography ( 28 c. ) for October.

A Playwright's Novitiate. Miriam Coles Harris. At"
latttic Monthly ( 38 c. ) for October.

Jack's Literary Effort. Story. Tudor Jenks. St. Nich-
olas ( s8 c. ) for October.

The Prejudice Against Foreign Phrases. Lucy C.
Bull. North A merican Review ( 53 c ) for October.

The Heroic Couplet. St. Loe Strachey. Reprinted from
National Review in Eclectic ( 48 c. ) for October.

Bookbinding : Its Processes and Ideal. T. J. Cobden-
Sanderson. Reprinted from Fortnightly Review in Eclectic
( 48 c. ) for October.

The Work of Mr. Patbr. Lionel Johnson. Reprinted
from Fortnightly Review in Eclectic ( 48 c. ) f or October.

The Art of thb Novelist. Amelia B. Edwards. Re*
printed from Contemporary Review in Eclectic ( 48 c ) for Oc-
tober.

Half-tone Photo^bngraving Explained. Photographic
Titmes ( 18 c. ) for August 34.

How TO Make a Pin-holb Camera. Harper's Yotmg
People ( 8 c. ) f or October a.

How TO Make A Book-case. Harper* s Young People
(8 c. ) for October 23.

Book Clubs and Home Libraries. Eleanor V. Hutton.
Harper's Bazar ( 13 c. ) for October 6.

Dr. Oliver Wendell Holmes. With portrait. Harpef^t-
Bazar ( 13 c. ) for October 20.

Louise Imogen Guinby. With portrait. Harper's Bazar
( 13 c. ) for October 20.

A Visit to Dr. Holmes. M. V. W. Harper's Bazar
( 13 c. ) for October 27.

Professor David Swing. With portrait. Harper's Weekly
( 13 c. ) for October 13.

Oliver Wbndbll Holmes. With portraits. A. E. Wat-
rous. Harper's Weehly (13 c.) for October 20.

Thb Distribution of Public Documents. George Grant*
ham Bain. Harper's Weehly ( 13 c. ) for October 27.

Recollections of Horace Greeley. Justin McCarthy.
YoutVs Companion ( 8c. ) for September 27.

The Length of Editorials. William B. Chisholm. Jour^
nalist ( 13 c. ) for October 20.

Thb Boston Journal. Historical Sketch. Fourth Estate
( 13 c. ) for October 4.

Thb Historical Novel.— II. George Saintsbury. Reprinted
from MacmUlan^s Magazine in LittelVs Living Age (sz c. )
for October 6.

OuvBR Wbndbll Holmes. Christian Register for Octo-
ber XI.

Oliver Wendell Holmes. Nation for October zi.

Ouvbr Wbndbll Holmes. Independent for October zi.

An Autocrat of Love. With illustrations, including a fine
portrait. Boston Home Journal (130.) for October 13.

Oliver Wendell Holmes. Outlooh for October 13.

A London Walk with Dr. Holmes. Hans Yorkel.
New York Home Journal for October 17.

Oliver Wendell Holmes. H. T. Sudduth. Interior for
October 18.

The Poet's Religion. Christian Register for October z8.

Thb Burial Place of Oliver Wendell Holmxs.
Edward A. Rand. Independent ( Z3 c ) for October 18.

Dr. Holmes with His Neighbors. Edward Everett Hale.
Independent for October 18.

Impressions of Dr. Holmes, Edward Everett Hale.
Outlooh ( 13 c. ) for October 20.

Oliver Wbndbll Holmes and thb Girls at Wellbslby.
Florence V. Hughes. Golden Rule for October 25.

Professor David Swing. Chicago Tribune for October 3 ;
Chicago Tribune, Inter-Oeean, Herald, Post, Record, and
Times for October 4. .

Professor David Swing. With portrait. Chicago Interior
for October 11.

Interviews with A. Conan Doylb. New York Herald
and New York Sun for October 3.

A. Conan Doylb at Homb. Indianapolis News for Octo-
ber 6, Louisville Courier-JoumeU, St. Louis Republic, and
New York Sun for October 7.

Writers of Louisiana. Rochester (N. Y. ) Democrat
and Chronicle for September 30; Miemeapolis Tribune for
October 7.

The Art of the Short Story. Dial ( 13 c. ) for October 1.

Thb Risb and Fall of the Thrbb-volume Novel. Wal-
ter Besant Dial ( 13 c. ) for October i.

A Reporter's Life. Waverley Keeling. Golden Rule for
October 4.

174

The Writer.

Ths Elbmbnts of Pobtic Tbaching. Richard Hovey.
Independent (13 c. ) for September 27. II. Independent
( 13 c. ) for October 4.

Curious Old Nbwspapbrs. Boston Home Journal tat
October 6.

Nbwspapbr CoLLBcnoNS. Boston 7Vaiwcn>/ for October 6.

Professor Vincbnzo Botta. New York Tribune, New
York Herald for October 6.

Frank L. Stanton. Reprinted from Philadelphia Times
in Indianapolis Journal for October 7,

Abbotsford To-day. New York Herald for October 7.

Thb Nbwspapbr Collbction of thb Lbnox Library.
New York Times for October 7.

Intbrvibw with Thomas J. McKbb, thb Nbw York
Book Collector. Rochester ( N. Y. ) Democrat and Chronf
icle for October 7.

Miss Sarah Barnwell Elliott. Elizabeth M. Gilmer.
New Orleans Picayune for October 7.

Literary London. Theo. F. Wolfe, M. D. I. New
York Home Journal for October 10. II. New York Home
Journal lot October 17. III. New York Home Journal for
October 24.

Stanley Ward. New York Commercial Advertiser for
October 11.

Rev. S. Baring-Gould. With portrait. Churchman for
October 13.

Sarah Orne Jewbtt. Outlook for October 13.

Joaquin Miller at Home. San Francisco Call for
October 14.

American Writers Abroad. New York Herald, WheeU
ing Register for October 14.

Charlotte Bronte. — III. Baltimore News for October 14.
IV. Baltimore News for October ax.

Octave Thanet. With portrait. St. Paul Pioneer Press
for October 14.

The Poets of the Bodlby Head. With portraits of W.
B. Yeats, Norman Gale, Arthur Symons, Mr. and Mrs. Rich-
ard Le Gallienne, and Francis Thompson. Katharine Tynan
Hinkson. Outlook for October ao.

James A. Froudb. New York TrUmne lot Ox:Xq\>^x %i.

NEWS AND NOTES.

Dr. A. Conan Doyle arrived in New York
October 2.

Mrs. Frances Hodgson Burnett will spend
the winter in the Riviera. Mrs. Burnett was
obliged to spend a large part of the summer at
Washington, owing to the serious illness of her
son, who is now recovered.

Miss Agnes Repplier has left London, and
when last heard from was in Vienna, en route
for Constantinople, Greece, and Egypt.

Mrs. Amelia E. Barr is in Europe, where she
will spend the winter.

T. B. Aldrich left Boston October 4 for a trip
around the world. At last accounts he was at
Yokohama, Japan.

Barrett Wendell is spending the winter in
Italy.

General Lew Wallace is lecturing in Oregon
and California.

Acting upon a suggestion made by Frederic
Harrison, the British Ro3ral Historical Society
has decided to commemorate this month the
centenary of the death of Edward Gibbon,
author of " The Decline and Fall of the Roman
Empire."

Miss Harriet Monroe got a verdict for $5,000
in her suit against the New York World for
damages because of the publication of her copy-
righted " Ode " without permission.

Mark Twain will spend the winter with his
family in Paris.

E. Irenaeus Stevenson, of the literary depart-
ment of Harper & Brothers, and of the Indeptn-
dent^ has returned to his desk, after a mid-
summer and early autumn in Zermatt, the Jura,
and Paris.

Mrs. Kate Douglas Wiggin is soon to be
married to George Riggs, a young business
man of New York. They were together last
summer on a coaching party in Wales. This
marriage will not interfere with Mrs. Wiggin's
literary career.

Mrs. Julia C. R. Dorr has just returned from
a long Western trip.

Herr Bjornstjerne Bjornson, who is at present
staying in Tyrol with his family, intends to
spend the winter in Rome. There he hopes to
finish "a great social drama" upon which he
has been for some time at work.

Gilbert Parker has gone to Marblethorpe in
Lincolnshire, where he is hard at work on a new
novel to be published next spring.

Mrs. Louise Chandler Moulton is in Paris for
a short stay before returning to America, early
in November.

F. Marion Crawford will shortly build a fine
summer residence on the property he has re-
cently acquired near Hanover, N. H., his wife's
birthplace. In spite of foreign birth and resi-
dence, Mr. Crawford regards himself as an
American citizen, and will hereafter spend his
summers here.

The Writer.

175

Mrs. A. L. Wistar, whose translations of the
stories of E. Marlitt and other German writers
have brought her so much fame, is having a
cottage built at Northeast Harbor, Me.

The Midland Monthly ( Des Moines ) offers
prizes of $20 for the best descriptive paper,
with photographs or drawings, $20 for the best
story of any length, $10 for the best short story
or sketch, and $5 each for the two best short
poems submitted before December 30, 1894.
The offer is open only to subscribers for the
magazine.

With the October number Home and Country
( New York ) appeared in a new dress and with
a new cover. The price has been reduced to
11.50 a year.

The subscription price of the Southern Maga-
zine ( Louisville) has been reduced to $1.50 a
year.

Everywhere^ a new monthly magazine, has
been started in Brooklyn, with Will Carleton,
the poet, as its editor. The first number has
sixteen pages of good reading, including several
short stories and some of Mr. Carleton^s poems.

Margherita Arlina Hamm has succeeded
Allan Forman as editor and publisher of the
(yournalist) New York. Mr. Forman has
gone on a foreign journey, to last a year or
more.

The best newspaper obituaries of Dr. Holmes
were those published in the Boston Herald^
the Boston Post, the Boston Transcript, and
the New York Tribune of October 8.

A. J. Jaccaci has been appointed art editor of
Scribner'^s Magazine.

The plant of the Hosterman Publishing Com-
pany, of Springfield, O., publishers of Woman-
kind, was destroyed by fire October 19.

Mrs. James T. Fields, No. 148 Charles street,
Boston, desires that those having in their pos-
session letters of interest from the late Mrs.
Celia Thaxter will lend them to her for use in a
memorial volume, or send her copies for the
same purpose. Only a few letters can be used
in this collection, which is to be a small one,
but Mrs. Fields wants to see as many letters as
possible, that she may choose those that are
best for the purpose.

George H. Richmond & Co., New York, have
in press a series of satirical essays and humor-
ous sketches relating to modern fiction under
the tide of " The Literary Shop," from the pen
of James L. Ford.

Bret Harte has published more than thirty
volumes and writes at the rate of two a year.
He passed his fifty-fifth birthday last August.

David Christie Murray says he thinks noth-
ing of writing a three-volume novel in five
weeks, and Mr. Henty, the author of so many
entertaining books for boys, produces his
stories at the rate of 6,500 words a day.

Emile Zola, according to his biographer,
writes four printed pages in the Charpentier
edition of his novels every day. This is his
task ; he never writes less and he never writes
more, stopping at the end of the fourth page
even if he is in the midst of a sentence.

Julian Ralph, whose long association with
the New York Sun has made him one of the
best known newspaper men in the country,
contributes to Scribner*s for November a
timely article on "A Newspaper Office on
Election Night." The illustrations represent
faithfully the scenes and people described.

A "Real Conversation" between Conan
Doyle and Robert Barr, giving glimpses of
Dr. Doyle's home life and his methods of
work, and reporting his opinions on the state
of the novelist's art in England and America
at the present time, appears in McClure^s
Magazine for November. Several portraits
of Dr. Doyle and Mr. Barr and views of in-
teriors in Dr. Doyle's home, a photograph of
Mrs. Conan Doyle, and a portrait of Sherlock
Holmes accompany the article.

The Forum Publishing Company has issued
(as the October number of the Forum Quar-
terly) a volume of the autobiographical papers
that ran through a dozen numbers of the Forum
several years ago, by President Timothy
Dwight, W. E. H. Lecky, Professor B. L.
Gildersleeve, Frederic Harrison, Dr. Edward
Eggleston, Archdeacon F. W. Farrar, Edward
Everett Hale, Professor John Tyndall, Pro-
fessor A. P. Peabody, Professor Edward A.
Freeman, Professor Simon Newcomb, and
Georg Ebers.

176

The Writer.

Miss Beatrice Harraden has been asked to
write a serial for the Century, but refused. " I
do not like serials," she said. "It is a bad
arrangement for both author and reader. The
effect of the story is lost when it is read
by piecemeal, through several months. The
reader is disappointed or loses interest, and the
writer is misjudged."

The Magazine of Poetry (Buffalo) for
October contains sketches of George P. Morris,
Stephen C. Foster, John G. Saxe, Fitz-Greene
Halleck, and other writers.

The Review of Reviews for October has por-
traits of William CuUen Bryant, Parke God-
win, Charles Dudley Warner, Chauncey M.
Depew, and Hall Caine.

In Macmillan^s Magazine for October
George Saintsbury gives the third and con-
cluding part of his essay on "The Historical
Novel."

"How a Law is Made" is the title of an
article contributed to the November number of
the North American Review by Senator John
L. Mitchell, of Wisconsin, who describes the
course of a bill through Congress. In the same
number Mrs. Amelia E. Barr writes about
"The Modern Novel."

F. Tennyson Neely, the Chicago publisher,
who has returned after several months' travel in
Europe, will soon publish some experiences
under the title " Foreign Authors as They Re-
ceived Me."

Book News ( Philadelphia ) for October has a
portrait and sketch of George Du Maurier.

The Century for November signalizes the
opening of its twenty-fifth year by the begin-
ning of one of its most important enterprises,
the Life of Napoleon, by William M. Sloane,
Professor of History at Princeton College.
Charles Dudley Warner contributes to the
number an article on Professor Sloane and his
work.

It is the custom of John Codman Ropes to
put his work in type and have it printed before
turning it over to the publishers, since by this
means he secures absolute accuracy, and is also
able to judge of the final appearance of his
manuscript.

It is spring and sometimes almost midsum-
mer now in the magazine* offices. The Christ-
mas numbers were gotten out of the way weeks
ago, and later numbers have long been in
various states of forwardness. The spring
poem inspired by the glories of last May is now
in t3rpe for May, 1895.

After Victor Hugo died more than 10,000
isolated verses were found scattered about his
room, written on little slips of paper. He used
to write incessantly, even while he was dress-
ing himself in the morning.

Amelie Rives-Chanler, in one of her recent
books, eclipses all vivid novelists in a bit of
description of her hero. His heart gives "a
hot leap along his breast to his throat, leaving
a fiery track behind it, as of sparks. "

Miss Kipling, a sister of Rudyard Kipling,
has gone into literature. She is a Mrs. Fletcher,
but Kipling is a better name to conjure with.

As an illustration of the enormous develop-
ment of newspapers in the United States, it is
related that in 1880 the newspaper and press
associations received only 28,000,000 words by
telegraph, while last year they received by
wire 1,800,000,000 words.

Mrs. A. T. Van Derveer, of Long Branch,
N. J., who is a contributor to the Christian In-
telligencer, of New York, and the Burlington
Hawkeye, of Iowa, has been awarded one of the
prizes offered by the woman's executive com-
mittee of the board of domestic missions of the
Reformed Church for a leaflet, entitled "The
Mission Ball."

M. Stephane Mallarm^, the French poet,
suggests that the publishers of books on which
the copyright has expired should be compelled
to pay a small royalty into a fund for the
benefit of needy authors.

Professor David Swing died in Chicago
October a.

Oliver Wendell Holmes died at his home in
Boston, Sunday, October 7.

James A. Froude died in London October 20,
aged seventy-six.

Professor James Darmesteter died at Mai-
sons-Lafitte, near Paris, October 26, aged forty-
five.

The

Writer:

A MONTHLY MAGAZINE TO INTEREST AND HELP ALL LITERARY WORKERS.

Vol. VII.

BOSTON, IJECEMBER, 1894.

No. 12.

Entered at the Boston Post-office as second-class mail matter.

CONTENTS : fagb

Character Nambs in Fiction. Howard MarkU Hoke. 177
Kbbping Track of Manuscripts. F. M. Howard . .178

Maria Louisb Pool. Amanda M. Halt 180

Living by thb Pbn. Elimabeth Cherry Haire. . . . i8a
MoRB Pbrsonal Tributes to Dr. Holmes. Edna
Dean Procter^ Thomas Nelson Page, Louise Chandler

Moulton, E. S. P. Ward, Joaquin MUler 183

Editorial "84

The National Amateur Press Assooation. Frank-
lin C.Johnson '85

Queries '^5

The Scrap Basket »86

Newspaper English Edited 187

The Use and Misuse of Words "87

" None " for " No Other." 187

Book Reviews 187

Helpful Hints and Suggestions 189

Photography in Copying, 189 — Qipping with a Pin. . 189

Literary Articles in Periodicals 189

News and Notes. 190

CHARACTER NAMES IN FICTION.

The choice of proper names is an important
matter in the writing of fiction. While names,
in actual life, are not necessarily synonymous
with character, a contrary rule, tacit at least,
appears to obtain in the unreal life of letters.
Heroes, heroines, aristocratic families, and pol-
ished villains have euphonious names; low
knaves, uncouth or contemptuous names ; and
humorous characters, humorous names. Ex-
amination of our best novels will convince the
doubtful of this fact. Names directly indica-
tive of character, indeed, were common in the
old comedies and satires. There Mrs. Mala-
prop. Sir Jonathan Backbite, Croaker, and
Lord Foppington were allegorical representa-
tives. They have been relegated in these days
to farce comedies and burlesques, in which
Policeman Glue, Noisy Howell, Miser Grabit-

all, etc., still proclaim their respective traits ;
but no dignified writer of fiction now puts such
placards upon his characters.

The careful author makes the choice of
names a matter of earnest research and con-
sideration. Their fitness is indefinable, ex-
tremely elusive, and is governed by his own
taste and individuality. Any one who has not
given the subject attention will be surprised to
learn how much more can be done with a char-
acter after a suitable name has been found than
previously, and what a clog a poor selection \%,
I do not allow myself to work upon a tale until
I find fitting names for all its people, and often ,
put off writing for days until they can be found.
There is inspiration in a well-chosen name.
Entire plots are often suggested by a striking
name, the traits naturally associating themselves
with it, and the incidents of the tale or sketch
easily following. A good name makes the
imaginary hero or heroine seem more real, and
without such seeming good writing cannot be
done.

In connection with his observations of life,
the earnest writer should study into the relation
of names to character, and he will find much
that is interesting and valuable. Every one
knows that a man whom people nickname
" Bob " is a wholly different person from one
who is always addressed as " Robert." The
connection between name and character is
closer than is generally supposed, and will
amply repay study.

A book for the recording of good proper
names is a highly useful addition to the refer-
ence library. If a choice cannot be made from
it, transposition will often solve the difficulty.
Thus, for instance, Rad cliff may become Ard-
cliff and Darcliff; and, by changing the last
syllable, Darman, Ardman, and Radman, and

Coprrigfat, 1894. bj William H. Hilu. K)ifi|^\&TtaKr««^

178

THE WRITER.

so on endlessly. Even so slight a change may
greatly . improve the story. Directories, of
course, are mines, but much digging is requi-
site to find a gem. I have found the indexes
to reports of law cases the very best place in
which to find good names. Possibly the tradi-
tions of the law make them more interesting or
romantic; but, whatever the reason may be, I
would advise examination of such sources.

It seems to me that the choice of proper
names deserves serious attention. All of us
have read tales that would have been far better
had better selections in this respect been made.
Our realists may contend that no such fitness
of name to character exists in the natural world,
and may argue that it is exalted position, in the
case of an aristocratic family, that renders
the name euphonious, and that the bad deeds
of a villain make his name an outlaw to har-
mony. Against this contention I might point
out various other unrealities which the very

nature of writing stories makes necessary ; and
to the argument might reply that, if our impres-
sion of names is based upon the character of
the persons to whom they apply, then, in choos-
ing them for the people of our tales in accord-
ance with the rule herein suggested, we are only
copying a phenomenon of the natural world.

A written story is, after all, like a picture or
a statue, only a work of art — a representation
of life. An artist would not mar the beauty of a
landscape by placing an unsightly object in the
foreground, nor would a sculptor ruin the grace-
ful marble form by chiseling a deformed hand
or foot. Each strives to make every minute
detail conform to the general harmony. One
unmusical word may destroy the sweetness of
a poem, or a false chord mar the cadence of a
hymn. Character names are an important part
of fiction, and a poorly-chosen name may spoil a
beautiful story. Howard Mark le Hoke,

Harrisburg, Penn.

KEEPING TRACK OF MANUSCRIPTS.

For several years publications of all kinds
have teemed with articles filled with advice for
young writers. The ambitious young author
has been told to write only on one side of the
paper, always to use black ink, not to roll his
manuscripts, to cultivate a neat, legible hand-
writing, to revise with great care, and to have
great patience with the editor upon whom he
may inflict his early efforts.

Again and again, he has been warned not to
offer a treatise on Chinese metaphysics to a
popular magazine, or a light society sketch
to an encyclopedia. He has been advised to
get a copy of the publication to which admit-
tance is sought, to note carefully its contents,
and then act accordingly. He has been warned
that if the periodical in question has not hitherto
used serials or comic verses, it is not likely
to use them ; that if it has never printed short
stories containing more than 5,000 words, it

would be a waste of postage to send the editor
a story twice as long. He has been reminded
that it is hardly a judicious thing to send theo-
logical discussions to a secular sheet, or epics
anywhere.

To win respect in the editorial sanctum, the
young writer has been counseled not to write
long letters to the editor, or to think it neces-
sary to explain what his article was about, or to
supply articles regularly each week or month,
or to tell the editor that he is young and inex-
perienced, or to work on the editor's sympa-
thies, or to ask the editor to tear up or burn the
manuscript if he cannot use it, or, finally, to
fasten all hope upon a single publication, when
there are hundreds in the land.

Now, all this is very important and useful ad-
vice — important to the young literary aspirant
and useful to the overworked editor. But there
are scores, who have learned these rudimentary

The Writer.

179

lessons, who would like to have their instructors
go a little further and give them points upon
marketing and keeping trace of their manu-
scripts. The Writer has had much to say in
this line, and it has been of great practical
value to young authors, and to. older ones,
too.

For the last seven or eight years, in addition
to my regular daily work, I have mailed from
two to six manuscripts each week. Some
have been accepted immediately, others have
not been heard from in any way for months,
others have been accepted, but not paid for
until they were printed, after the lapse of a
month, a year, or, perhaps, even five years. It
soon became a great task upon the memory to
keep track of these manuscripts. After several
years* experience the following blank was de-
vised and adopted : —

when it is returned. In case the article is
accepted, space is provided for entering the
amount paid for it, the rate per 1,000 words,
the date of payment, and any comment that may
be of future value. The attached skeleton letter
has been very useful, since it says, when it is
filled out, all that needs to be said in almost
every case.

This plan has been all that could be desired
in keeping track of manuscripts, but in another
way it has been of even greater value. In the
past two or three years I have made nearly 500
entries of manuscripts sent away. It is easy to
see that these stubs furnish a record of very
helpful information.

For instance : I have found that the YoutKs
Companion almost invariably accepts or rejects
a manuscript in about two weeks, always pays
when the manuscript is accepted, and, if the

RECORD

Title

aa«s

No. of words

OF MS.

Editor

Seat to .*.....

Date ^

Condition returned MS

Sent to

Condition returned MS

..Date

Dear Sir : —

The enclosed MS., entitled.

Sent to

Date

Condition returned MS

Sent to

Condition returned MS

.Date

Signed

Amount paid, %

Date of payment

..Rate i

is offered at your usual rates. If not available, please return,
for which find stamps enlosed.

Remarks •

Very truly yours.

This blank provides for recording the title of
the article, the class of composition to which
it belongs, the number of words in it, or its es-
timated length. It also provides address and
date lines, so that if it should be returned three
times it can be sent away again each time
without making an entry on a new page. A
line is added for each entry, so that a record can
be made as to the condition of the manuscript

manuscript is rejected, returns it in good con-
dition. There is a New York publication which
has very different information checked up
against it. This publication has been tardy
in reading articles, slow in paying for them,
and in one case a story of several chapters
sent to its editor was lost. Experience has
shown that it is a good publication to leave
alone.

i8o

The Writer.

If any of the readers of The Writer have
any trouble in keeping track of their manu-
scripts, or would like to keep a compact record
of their work, this system can be relied upon to

give satisfaction. It is not copyrighted, and
any one is welcome to use it who caret to.

F. M, Howard.

New York. N. Y.

MARIA LOUISE POOL.

We have, all of us, learned that the story of
any human life, even the humblest and most un-
eventful, would be full of interest if truly and
8]rmpathetically told.

If this is true of human life as a whole, it is
more strikingly true of those lives which have
put themselves in rapport with large classes of
people by what may be presumed to be, in a
measure, self-revelations.

In reading the works of all the great masters
of Fiction, we are constantly peering after the
man behind the mask. The life of the author
himself interests us more deeply than his great-
est creations, especially if we ourselves, how-
ever modestly, venture to claim a share in that
magic freemasonry which knits together in one
band all the devotees of Literature. To us it is
the greatest of the arts and its masters are the
crowned leaders of the world.

And so, though the subject of this sketch
assures me that there is "really nothing to tell,"
I am certain that even the outward aspects of
this life, which is, to those who read between
the lines, more than half hinted, will yield some-
what of interest and helpfulness to those who,
not having won reputation, dream of it afar ofiF.

Maria Louise Pool is ^ every sense a daugh-
ter of the soil. Bom in the old Bay State, not
far from that rugged coast the salty flavor of
which gives pungency to many of her earlier
stories, never having traveled excepting in her
own country, and having an almost passionate
attachment to her home, she came to woman-
hood surrounded by its influences, apparent and
latent, its historic earth meaning more to her
than a kingdom the other side of the ocean, its
capital city the one city of the world, its literary
coterie the spur of her ambition and the Mecca

of her hopes. I do not know how far she has
outgrown the worship of her early idols, though,
I dare say, some of them were found to be mere
simulacra^ men of straw, without weight or sub-
stance ; but, as a girl of a certain latent intensity
of nature, which you felt rather than defined, it
did her no harm to have before her such models
and heroes as the New England classic authors.
Ideals and tastes inspired and formed by such
writers as Lowell, and Holmes, and Rose Terry
Cooke, and Mrs. Spofford, and the rest of the
long chain of illustrious names, which, for
twenty years, made the Atlantic Monthly the
star of the magazine world, are good working
forces and precious capital to an ambitious
writer. No doubt by them Miss Pool was
helped to handle her creations in a manner ail
her own.

She began to write e&rly for many periodi-
cals and newspapers. Some of her stories ap-
peared in the Galaxy^ that New York magazine
which came as a protest against New England
exclusiveness, and, like all protests nnsus-
tained by wealth and influence, died too soon.
Later, the New York Post and Trihunt began
to welcome her papers. Her first book, " A Va-
cation in a Buggy," is an aggregation of letters
contributed to the Niw York Evening Post
Their freshness, humor, and, perhaps most of
all, their individual flavor attracted the attention
of the publishing house of G. P. Putnam*8 Sons,
and they solicited of the author permission to
put them into covers. The result is a bright
and charming little book.

It was soon after the appearance of this first
book that Miss Pool made her second visit to
the South, this time tarrying for some weeks
in the mountains of North Carolina. While

The Writer,

i8i

she was here the proof-sheets of "Tenting at
Stony Beach " passed through her hands, and
out of this visit came the inspiration of numer-
ous attractive letters to the New York Tribune^
and, later, of " Dally," up to that date her most
important work.

Her studies of the poor white type of moun-
taineer are most perfectly realized in the slight
sketch of Daily's miserable brother, whose
dwarfed soul had a single noble attribute — his
love for ** thur mountings." Dally herself is in-
debted for her gifts and graces mainly to her
creator's imagination. Like Miss ^Murfree's
heroines, she was made, not born. *

Following " Dally " appeared in surprisingly
rapid succession, " Roweny in Boston," " Mrs.
Keats Bradford," "The Two Salvinis,"
"Katharine North," and "Out of Step," all of
them testifying that Miss Pool is at her best
when her foot is on her native heath and her
types are of her own New England.

This is not meant as ungracious criticism.
This world is not a microcosm, and whoever takes
it for his field must inevitably miss some of its
most notable and splendid details — those salient
details which the specialist eagerly appropri-
ates.

Miss Pool's genre pictures of New England
have an honored niche of their own in our lit-
erature. They are not like the work of some
of the older writers, but they are like New
England. They may not have that subtle, elu-
sive grace which we call the literary quality,
but that skill which selects from the great mass
of common-place, humdrum living that which is
individual and characteristic and photographs
it with such startling vividness that the secret
of itself stands revealed — what is it but the
highest literary art.^ Surely this must be
genius which thrills us with interest in the for-
tunes of persons whom in actual life we should
dislike, which moves us to smiles and laughter
and to tears as readily, which enwraps us and
penetrates us, without and within, with the
atmosphere of New England, which renews for us
the breath of her pine woods, the pale beauty
of her late spring, the sense of her thrift, her
comfort and *• faculty," her shrewd common-
sense, with its twinkle of humor, her kindly,
warm heart under its snow of reticence and

silence, her straight-laced morals, so alien to
this generation, and unpractical ideals yet more
alien, and so strangely incompatible with the
rest of the New England character ! You can
tell your friend of the West or South that if he
wishes to know New England, he may read Miss
Poors stories, and his future personal knowl-
edge will not belie you.

I think it is their very veraciousness
which has made some home critics luke-
warm or indifferent. Possibly, New Eng-
land does not like to see herself "as in a
glass," for the picture is not wholly flatter-
ing. It has the merciless truthfulness of
the photograph. The high cheek bones and
stern visage of the old Puritan are there.
The outlines are too hard for beauty some-
times, too severe, too literal. We thought we
had changed all that, comfortably outgrown it,
become quite modern and gracefully conven-
tional, and, behold, here comes one who shows
us that blood tells, tells for all time and under
all conditions, and can by no means of sophisti-
cal draping ever be permanently concealed.

Verily, Praise-God-Bare-bones an'd Mis^ Sar-
^eant, of the Browning club, are blood-relations.

New York loves New England, — and smiles
at her whimsies, — and reaches out a cordial
hand to this delightful artist, but the soul of
cautious New England doubts. Let us wait
awhile! Do we really look like that.*^ In the
mean ^time, is it possible that we have, right
here, the great American Novel — and not one,
but several ?

It almost goes without saying that such stories
as these of Miss Pool^s are not done as tasks,
or primarily for financial rewards. She is a
natural writer and has always loved her work,
and, most fortunately, she has had no tastes in-
compatible with a whole-hearted devotion to it.
Though not unsocial, she is indifferent to society
in the popular sense. Most of her life has been
spent away from great towns and their distrac-
tions. Such seclusion, indeed, has been essen-
tial. The exactions of a peculiarly nervous
organization were early recognized and the
needful concessions were made not unwillingly.
Always a lover of the country, she has found in
the retirement of the old farmhouse, where, un-
til recently, she has dwelt for many years, not

i8a

The Writer,

Qnly a happy home in the company of the friend
of her heart, but also the leisure and quietude
suited to nourish her genius.

The devotion of her faithful friend, intelli-
gent, S3rmpathetic, unselfish, tender, has been
an important element in Miss Pool's life and a
factor in her success. By her, all troublesome
worries have been kept at bay, all vexations de-
prived of their sting, and the common cares of
their dual life cheerfully assumed. The friend-
ship of these two women, cemented more firmly
as the years go by, adds a touch of romance to
their dignified and noble lives. May it be long
before the unkindness of fate breaks the tie.

Miss Pool's life has not been marked by
vicissitudes. It has been full of congenial
work, varied only by simple diversions. For
some years she kept a riding pony for her use ;
later an afternoon drive with the horse that was
** not a woman's horse " was wont to brush the
cobwebs from her brain. Though a true lover
of fine scenery, she is a bad traveler, the inci-
dents of the journey making havoc with her
nerves. Lovers of dogs will be pleased to know
that she is one of that unnamed guild, and, as
she says, "proud to have them for friends."
Two beautiful terriers are distinguished, mem-
bers of her family, and never to be long sep-
arated from her without grief.

Miss Pool's hours of work are always in the
morning. Her characters are, she says, " real
folks " to her, and if she keeps their company
late in the day, she is apt to be up with them till

the small hours. But from nine to twelve she
is nearly always busy at her desk.

She has not reached her present distinctioa,
at a bound, but, like others, has found that the
majority of editors do not hanker after manu-
script from any one upon whom the world has
not set its seal of approval. She confesses to
having "a fine collection of the printed forms
of refusal from publications." The form of
declination that pleased her sense of the humor-
ous most was that of the magazine which
thanked her for the opportunity of reading her
manuscript, but "preferred to publish matter
that its readers liked." She is, at present, tak-
ing an enforced rest on account of impaired
health. Her large circle of readers will warmly
hope that this recess will not need to be long^
and that the future will be afiluent of successes
for one who has so bravely earned them.

So far as the present writer is aware, Maria
Louise Pool is the only New England story-
writer who has not been helped in her career by
birth, position, friends, or influence. She may
well be proud of her fame, for she has won it
solely by her own gifts and industry. Her
heart beats warm and strong with the life-blood
of the people. So born and so nurtured, she
has become their best interpreter and is, in the
truest sense, a writer of that great To-day^
which so boldly lords it over the fast darkening;
Past.

Amanda M, Halt,

ROSBLAND, La.

LIVING BY THE PEN.

For the information of those who may be dis-
couraged by the assertion that it is impossible
for the young author to subsist by the fruits
of his pen, I wish to say that, without any
previous effort in that line, I took up that very
task in Januslry, 1894, and since then have sup-
ported a family of five comfortably without
any aid from other sources. Therefore, I say

that what I have done others can do, and that
young writers who have ability can subsist on
pen efforts if they combine with it an idea of the
value of time and the use of business methods
in disposing of their articles.

A woman is said to be greatly handicapped
when she attempts to dispose of literary ma-
terial. I vefiture to dispute this, for a womaik

THE Writer.

183

who can write well is welcomed and receives
her full meed of praise. In a newspaper office
it is hard to convince the city editor that a
woman can do the work usually ^ven to a man,
but if the woman has " a nose for news,'* courage,
and does n*t mind wetting her dress and burning
off her overshoes getting a good description of
a few fires, she can conquer even the city
editor, and comes in for praise. If she takes a
man's work, and does it ** man well," there will

not long be discrimination against her. News
paper work, except the insignificant average,
society work (which is not real newspaper
work), is hard for a woman, but it is the best
training the literary worker can have. Never
can she forget the terse phrase: **Get the meat
ax ! *' or see the lopping off of her superfluous
phrases and numerous ill-placed adjectives,
without learning to be careful in composition.
CiNONNATi, O. Elisabeth Cherry Haire,

MORE PERSONAL TRIBUTES TO DR. HOLMES.

The following tributes to the memory of Dr.
Holmes were received too late for publication
in the Holmes Memorial number of The
Writer : —

The last time I saw Dr. Holmes, except in
public, was at his home in Beverly, three sum-
mers ago. He seemed very well, but as he put
on his spectacles to read a paragraph from a
book by his side, he said : —

" Not that there is anything the matter with
my eyes, but books are not so well printed now
as they used to be ; and, though voices don't
sound quite so clear as they did when I was
younger, it's from no defect in my hearing —
people don't speak distinctly in these days;
and if my step is not so firm as it was once, it
is only because the sidewalks are uneven ! "

Thus, with grace and cheer, he dismissed
lightly the infirmities of age.

Edna Dean Proctor,

I read the ** Autocrat " when I was a boy, and
thus Dr. Holmes became the first American
writer to me. I have since come to know Em-
erson, Hawthorne, and Poe; but somehow I
have never moved the " Autocrat " from the place
it took when I was a boy. I always think of it
just as I do of the dear old doctor — as sweet.

There are not a great many written things
which have that quality, I think.

Thos, Nelson Page.

i have onlv reached home this afternoon from
Europe. I found your request awaiting me. I
suppose your November number is already out,
so that it is too late for me to express in it my
sense of the great loss it is, not only to the
world of letters, but to the world of loving
friends who held him dear, that Dr. Oliver
Wendell Holmes has left the sphere so long
enriched by his gracious presence.

Louise Chandler Moulton.

38 RuTiJiND Square, Boston, November 6, 1894.

My heart is too full yet of our loss to write
of Dr. Holmes. He is the last of our great ;
and none of them were dearer to the American
people. E, S. P* Ward.

Nbwton Cbntrx, Mass.

Yours, asking for a paragraph, came too
late. Pray don't think me churlish. If I could
have had your letter in time, believe me, I
should have plucked with sad, sweet pleasure
the greenest bay leaf in the Sierras for the tomb
of dear, gentle, genial, and whole-souled Dr.
Holmes. Joaquin Miller,

184

The Writer.

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the magazine, and will be sent, postpaid, to any
address on receipt of 1 1.50.

WILLIAM H. HILLS,

Editor.

%*Thx Writbr is published the first day of erery month.
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%* Everything that may be printed in the magazine will be
written expressly for it.

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THE WRITER PUBLISHING CO.,

283 Washington street ( Rooms 9 and 10 ),

P. O. Box 1905. Boston, Mass.

Vol. VII. December, 1894. No. 12.

Short, practical articles on topics connected
with literary work are always wanted for The
Writer. Readers of the magazine are invited
to join in making it a medium of mutual help,
and to contribute to it any ideas that may occur
to them. The pages of The Writer are
always open for any one who^as anything help-
ful and practical to say. Articles should be
closely condensed; the ideal length is about

1,000 words.

«
« «

With this number closes the seventh volume
of The Writer. The January number will
include a title-page and complete index for the
volume. The bound volume of The Writer
for 1894 will be ready soon after January i, in
uniform style with previous bound volumes of

• *♦

Subscribers whose subscriptions may expire
with the present number are respectfully asked
to send in their renewal orders as soon as may
be convenient. It is the rule of The Writer
not to send the magazine after the term of sub-
scription has expired, unless a renewal order,
with remittance, is received. It is hoped that
every present subscriber will renew his sub-
scription, and if renewal orders are sent in as
soon as the current number is at hand, some in-
convenience in the publication office will be
saved, and delay in the receipt .of the maga-
zine will be prevented. Friends of The
Writer will greatly help the magazine if they
will recommend it to others, or send in new
subscriptions together with their own renewals.
The Writer needs many new subscribers to
enable it to attain the development requisite for
its greatest usefulness. Those who know the
magazine and find it helpful and will recommend
it to their friends will by so doing help them-
selves, the publishers, and those whose atten-
tion is directed to the publication.

«
« «

For a young writer, or in fact for any one inter-
ested in literary work, a subscription for The
Writer, or a set of bound volumes of The
Writer and The Author, will make a most
attractive Christmas present. The seven bound
volumes of The Writer, from 1887 to 1894 in-
clusive, will be sent, prepaid to any part of the
United States or Canada, for |io. If ordered
separately, the seven volumes would cost
$11.50. For $11 the seven bound volumes of
The Writer and a subscription for 1895 will
be given. A complete set of The Author —
three bound volumes — will be added for I5
additional. The bound volumes of The
Writer and The Author together make an
invaluable encyclopaedia of information about
authors and the methods of literary work. The
books are attractively bound in cloth, with gold
lettering on back and side, and will be a useful
and ornamental addition to the shelves of any
library.

• *♦

Speaking of libraries, friends of The Writer
will do the magazine a service by asking libra-

The Writer.

i8s

rians to order the bound volumes and enter
their subscriptions for their libraries, or by
'lending to the publishers the names of libraries
where The Writer is not catalogued. As a
magazine of practical information about authors
and the methods of authorship, The Writer
ought to be in every public library, and ex-
perience has shown that librarians are quick to
order it when it has been recommended to them
or asked for by their readers. The publishers
do not hesitate to ask such favors of their
readers, for the reason that from the beginning
the main purpose of The Writer has been to
be helpful to those to whose attention it should
come, and so it may rightfully ask reciprocal
help in extending its circulation and its useful-
ness.

THE NATIONAL AMATEUR PRESS
ASSOCIATION.

The National Amateur Press Association is
a unique literary organization. The associa-
tion has quite a large membership of young
men and women who write merely for the
pleasure it gives tliem and for the educational
value of the work. The editors and authors of
the "N. A. P. A." make writing a recreation
rather than a vocation. With some other source
of income to make existence sure^ they write
with their minds at ease, undistracted by any
anxiety regarding cruel editors, for iheir pro-
ductions are sure of publication in some of the
various amateur magazines.

The amateur writer is not a competitor of his
professional brother. In fact, many profes-
sional writers are members of the ** N. A. P. A^"
and contribute to its literature.

The " N. A. P. A.," as it now is, is a boon to
the educated invalid, or the ennuyd^ or the lazy
litterateur. The literary empiric, the dabbler,
the indolent writer of society verse, finds much
amusement in the institution. But there are
also connected with the association many young
men and women who write for the amateur press
for the practice it gives them. Many ambitious
amateurs make the ** N. A. P. A." a stepping-
stone to professional literary work.

There are, in many of the towns and cities of
America, local clubs that are ofiF-shoots of the

parent society. These local clubs publish of-
ficial organs and other papers, and greatly assist
in keeping the national association in a flourish-
ing condition. Franklin C Johnson,

BOONVILLB, N. Y.

QUERIES.

( I.) If an author, after copyrighting a novel,
wishes to change the title, what must he do ?

( 2. ) Does a short article have on the whole as
good a chance with the monthlies at one season
as at another, or are there times to be avoided?
When is the best time to submit a serial } How
long beforehand are magazines " made up " for
the coming year in detail 1 R. R.

[(i.) If it is desired to change the copy-
righted title of a novel before the book is pub-
lished^ all the author need do is to copyright
the new title and proceed' as if the earlier copy-
right had not been secured. It is seldom ad-
visable to change the title of a book after its
publication, but if such a change is made, both
the new title and the old should be used on the
title page, and the new title should be entered
for copyright, so that the copyright inscription
may read, — for instance, — "Copyright, 1882
and 1894, by John Smith."

( 2. ) It does not matter, as a general thing,
at what season of the year a manuscript, either
long or short, to be published serially or other-
wise,.is submitted to a magazine, excepting that
a " timely " article must not be submitted so
late that the editor cannot by any possibility in-
clude it in his forms. The main features of the
March magazines — the leading magazines, that
is to say — are practically settled now ( Decem-
ber I ). The January magazines are mostly
printed, and the February magazines are practi-
cally in type, with most of the illustrations
made. In each case there may be forms left
open for late matter which must go in, and
which cannot be obtained far in advance, but
the casual contributor has no interest in such
pages. Of course, the smaller the magazine,
the later it can hold back its forms, and some
of the big periodicals, like the Forum^ the
Riview of Reviews^ and the North Amtrican

i86

The Writer.

Review^ which make it a point to discuss timely
topics, print their final forms only shortly before
publication day. It is significant, however, that
although Dr. Holmes died October 7, the only
large November magazines which had a signed
article regarding him were the Forum and the
Review of Reviews, It was possible for The
Writer to make its November issue a ** Holmes
Memorial Number ** because it does not go to
press usually until the last day of the month.
— w. H. H.]

What is the usual rule for the make-up of
a book ? Should the preface precede the table
of contents, and where does the dedication
come ? L. o. s.

[ The usual order in the make-up of a book
is : Half-title, with reverse blank; full title with
reverse blank, or with copyright notice on re-
verse ; dedication, with reverse blank ; preface ;
table of contents ; list of illustrations ; body of
the work; appendix; glossary; index. The
copyright notice must appear either on the title
page or its reverse ; generally it is printed on
the reverse. None of the divisions mentioned
above should begin on a left-hand page. If a
list of errata is necessary, it may follow either
the list of illustrations or the index. — w. h. h. ]

What are the rules governing the use of the
editorial *♦ we " ? H. A. b.

[ The best modern practice is to use the
editorial ** we ** as little as possible. Editorial
writers on a paper which has more than one
editor may properly use ** we ** if the editorials
are unsigned, since it is understood that each
writer speaks not alone for himself, but for his
associates in the conduct of the paper. Even
in such cases, however, the best papers avoid
the use of ** we ** as much as possible, prefer-
ring to say "The Journai thinks" or "The
Press believes," rather than "we believe" or
"we think." In the case of signed articles,
whether they are editorial or not, the editorial
" we " should never be used, and the writer
who uses the stilted " we " in speaking of him-
self in a letter submitting a manuscript to an
editor may be sure beforehand that the manu-
script will be rejected. The simple, direct,
modest "I" should take the place of "we,"
or " the writer," or any set phrase in any article

followed or preceded by the writer*s signature -
The New York Herald even goes so far as to
instruct its reporters to use " I " in unsigned
news articles, so that instead of saying "When
the Herald reporter called on Mr. Depew yes-
terday," the Herald rtpoTttr would say , " When
I called on Mr. Depew yesterday." It is
questionable whether the use of " 1 " in such
unsigned articles is justifiable. In* the case,
however, of a paper which has only one editor^
whose name appears at the top of the editorial
column, " I " may properly be used in editorial
articles, even though they are not signed.
— w. H. H.]

THE SCRAP BASKET.

Can any reader of The Writer give me some
information about the following poem, whether
it is a translation or original, if there are more
lines, and who the author is ?

Off by the Toicelett, viewless shore
My weary spirit ever more
Wanders where oft it went before.
Searching for the pathway o*er,
Unto the gates and golden floor,
Looking, longing evermore.

Weary search, it ceases never,
Peering into mists that sever
This land from that, alai ! forever.

Can none the silence ever break ?

Will none recross the phantom lake.

Or hither voyage ever take

To bring from lands that Prophets spake

One messenger of all that make

The silent armies of the dead ?

" Not one," the answering silence said.

In sullen, low, and deep refrain ;
" Oat from those mists of solemn main

Not one shall e*er codm badi again.*'

I have quoted the lines from memory, ho I
may not have given them correctly.

Olivia T. Clossom.

Washington, D. C.

Permit to say that I have read with a keen
appreciation and delight, and perhaps with a
jealous eye, the personal tributes to the late
Dr. O. W. Holmes in your last issue. I
would like to add, if I may, that to me he has
been a veritable sunbeam, the warmth and glow
of which can never leave me. I am reminded of
one thing he said, the principle of which seems
to me to explain so much, to be of so great im-

The Writer.

1^7

portance to mankind, that I fain would call the
attention of a world to it. I may not give
the exact words, neither can I say in which of
his works I found it, but it was something like
this : If, in laying aside a vice or vicious habit,
one fails to put in its place some active prin-
ciple of good, the character will grow narrow,
will deteriorate.

I cannot doubt his greatness, for he has
awakened that love which is greatest of all;
neither do I doubt that the secret of his great-
ness was the " childlike spirit," his reverence
for everything good and sacred, and his noble
sympathy with his kind. These are things that
cannot let his name perish. A. R, Graham,

Grand Rapids, Mich.

NEWSPAPER ENGLISH EDITED.

Mr. Greenhalge will remain
at the State House. The
people will declare their de-
sire to have him remain in no
uncertain tones. ^Lynn Daily
Press.

Mr. Greenhalge will remain
at the Sute House. The
people will declare in no un-
certain tones their desire to
have him remain.

There are no armed bodies
of Kolbites coming to the
capital and none is expected.
'^ Montgomery Despatch in
New York Sun.

There are no armed bodies
of Kolbites coming to the
capital and none are expected.

All doubts as to the wide-
spread populauity of football
were effectually set at rest
yesterday mornmg when the
Sun appeared with the results
of no less than loo games
played on Thanksgiving day.
—New York Sun.

All doubts as to the wide-
spread popularity of football
were effectually set at rest
yesterday morning when the
Sun appeared with the results
of no fewer than too games
played on Thanksgiving day.

THE USE AND MISUSE OF WORDS.

[ Brief, pointed, practical paragraphs discussing the use and
misuse of words and phrases will be printed in this department.
All readers of The Writbr are invited to contribute to it.
Contributions are limited to 400 words ; the briefer they are, the
better.]

" None " for " No Other."— The vigor with
which the New York Sun repels any criticism of
its English shows that it realizes the importance
of correctness. When it says: " In no country
in the world is the dictionary held in such es-
teem as in the United States," it means, of
course, in no other country. No doubt its
fighting editor will be down upon me with kicks
and cuffs, reminding me of Macaulay, and
pleading ** usage," but I decline in advance to
be thus extinguished. Usage covers many sins,

but it cannot be made to justify saying ** none,
when we mean " no other," though it be what
Dr. Holmes called "a Macaulay flower" of
style. H. L. R., JR.

WiNCHBSTBK, MaSS.

BOOK REVIEWS.

MxTHODS OF Authors. By Dr. Hugo Erichsen. 170 pp.
Qoth, $1.00. Boston: The Writer Publishing Company.
1894.

Not only all who write, but all who read, are
interested to know how great authors have
achieved their work, to see them in the work-
shop, so to speak, and to be informed about the
methods of production of the masterpieces of
the world's literature. To those who read such
information it is interesting, because it heightens
their enjoyment of the books they love ; while
to those who write it is valuable, because it
gives them almost the only instruction available
in the literary art, and teaches them by example
how their own literary work may be lightened or
improved. Dr. Erichsen has written both for
the reader and the writer in his attractive and
entertaining book, and the writer will find it as
instructive as the reader will find it fascinating.
Much of the material for the book has been
gathered directly from the authors themselves,,
and the rest has been taken from authentic
sources. Not only American and English
writers, but the writers of France, Germany,,
and other European writers, are included in' the
work. The information gathered is divided
into chapters, entitled : Eccentricities in Com-
position; Care in Literary Production; Speed
in Writing; Influence Upon Writers of Time
and Place; Writing Unckr Difficulties; Aids
to Inspiration; Favorite Habits of Work;
Goethe, Dickens, Schiller, and Scott; Burning
Midnight Oil; Literary Partnership; Ano-
nymity in Authorship; System in Novel-writing;;
Traits of Musical Composers; The Hygiene of
Writing; and A Humorist*s Regimen. There
is hardly a page in the book that does not eive
some useful suggestion to students of author-
ship, and those who read it simply for enter-
tainment will find it full of fascinating interest.

An Introduction to tmk Study op English Fiction. By
William Edward Simonds. 340 pp. Cloth, $1.00. Boston :
D. C. Heath & Co. 1894.

Professor Simonds has aimed to tell in out-
line the story of the development of English
fiction, and to indicate the characteristics of
successive epochs in its growth. The first part
of his book is made up of chapters on Old Eng-
lish Story-Tellers ; The Romance at the Court
of Queen Elizabeth ; The Rise of the Novel ;
The Perfection of the Novel ; Tendencies of
To-day; and Books for Reference and Reading.
These chapters fill ninety pages. The other

i88

THE Writer.

150 pages of the book are filled with typical
selections from English literature, followed by
an index.

Vsrr PocKST Manual or Printinc 86 pp. Leather, 7s
oeots. Chicago : The Inland Printer Co. 1894.

Not only printers, but authors, editors, news-
paper men, publishers, and all who have an^-
thmg to do with the printer*s art, will find this
little pocket manual a helpful and convenient
reference book. It includes the essential rules
of punctuation and capitalization, some remarks
on style, a corrected page of proof showing the
right use of proof-reader's marks^ rules for the
make-up of a book, information about the im-
position and size of books, sizes of the un-
trimmed leaf, the type standard, the number of
words in a square inch of typ>e, directions for
securing copyright, a complete set of diagrams
for the imposition of forms, and numerous
tables, and hints and suggestions for printers
of much practical value. The book is of con-
venient size for the vest-pocket, where the owner
is likely to carry it for constant reference.

PansswoRK. A practical hand-book for the oae ol pressmen
and their apprentices. Br William J. Kelly. 96 pp. Cloth,
I1.50. Chicago : The Inland Printer Co. 1894.

Mr. Kelly is the superintendent of the web
color printing department of the New York
Worla, What he does n't know about practi-
cal printing isn*t worth knowing, and he tells
about all that he does know in this compactly-
written book. It is a comprehensive treatise on
presswork of all kinds, describing the various
methods of making readv forms on cylinder and
bed and platen presses, giving detailed directions
for overlaying and underlaying, the prepara-
tion of tympans of all kinds, the treatment of
inks, the care of rollers, the selection of papers,
—everything, in short, that the modern press-
man needs to know. The book is the result of
thirty years' experience in active presswork,
and as such it is invaluable to publishers and
printers.

Tmrss Boys on an Eukctiiical Boat. By John Trowbridge,
ais pp. Cloth, $1.00. Boston : Houghton, Mifllin, & Co.
1894.

In the guise of a fascinating story of the ad-
ventures of three boys, who enjoy a great many
interesting and exciting experiences, Professor
Trowbridee gives his readers a great deal of
practical knowledge about the wonders of elec-
tricitv. His book has all the absorbing inter-
est of a live boys' story, and it has a practical
Talue besides, which makes it a welcome addi-
tion to juvenile literature.

Tmb Story or a Bad Bov. By Thomas Bailey Aldrich.
HoUdav edition, with iliustratioas by A. B. Frost. 186 pp.
Ooth, ia.oo. Boston : Houghton, Mifflin, & Co. 1894.

At last Mr. Aldrich's delightful " Story of a

Bad Boy ** has been adequately illustrated. Mr.

F'rost hstM entered fully into the spirit of the

book, and his admirable pictures, reproduced
in this handsome holiday edition, are as full of
fascinating interest as the story is itself — and
there could be no higher praise. Pictures and
text together make one of the most charming
books imaginable, and one that will, no doubt,
be taken down as a welcome gift from countless
Christmas trees.

RotJND TMx RxD Lamp. By A. Conan Doyle. Second edi-
tion. 307 pp. Qoth, $1.50. New York: D. Appleton ft
Co. 1894.

Not all the admirers of Conan Dovle will
agree with him that it is the province ot fiction
to treat of painful things as well as cheerful
ones. It may be true, as he says, that a tale
which may startle the reader out of his usual
grooves of thought, and shocks him into seri-
ousness, pla^s the part of the alterative and
tonic in medicine, bitter to the taste, but bracing
in the result. Real life, however, contains so
much that is bitter — and bracing, possibly —
that there is hardly need of fiction to fulfil the

Purpose of "the alterative and the tonic.**
lumankind needs to be cheered and amused
rather than shocked and depressed, as arule,
and it may well be doubted, after all, whether
anything is gained by depicting the darker side
of life with microscopic realism. There are
only two or three stories in " The Red Lamp,'*
however, which the objector to morbid realism
would have had left out of the collection. ** His
First Operation " is one of these. ** The Curse
of Eve " is perhaps another, and ** The Case of
Lady Sannox " is the worst of all. It is difficult
to see what excuse there could be for its pub-
lication, or what good could possibly result
from it.

With this criticism made, so far as the rest of
the volume is concerned the critic has only to com-
mend. The chief characteristic of Dr. Doyle's
stories is their strength, and the next is the
truthful vigor of their realism. Oi these ** facts
and fancies of medical life," — the red lamp in
England being the usual sign of the general
practitioner, — only one or two are weak in any
sense, and there is not one that is not interest-
ing. In "A Medical Document" Dr. Doyle
makes some amusing remarks about the uses
of medicine in popular fiction, that is to say, of
what the folk die of, or what diseases are made
most use of in novels. ** Some," he says, " are
worn to pieces, and others, which are equally
common in real life, are never mentionea.
Typhoid is fairly frequent, but scarlet fever is
unknown. Heart disease is common, but then
heart disease, as we know it, is usually the
sequel of some foregoing disease, of whicn we
never hear anything in the romance. Then
there is the mysterious malady called brain
fever, which alwavs attacks the neroine after a
crisis, bat which is unknown under that name

The Writer.

189

to the text-books. People when they are over-
excited in novels fall down in a fit. In a fairly
large experience I have never known any one
to do so in real life. The small complaints
simply don't exist. Nobody ever gets shingles,
or quinsy, or mumps in a novel. All the
diseases, too, belong to the upper part of the
body. The novelist never strikes below the
belt." Fiction writers may get some useful
hints from Dr. Doyle's suggestions.

Thb Booir OP THB Fair. An historical and descriptive pres-
entation of the wodd's science, art, and industry, as viewed
through the Columbian Exposition at Chicago in 1893. By
Hubert Howe Bancroft. Part XII. 40 pp. Paper, $1.00.
Chicago and San Francisco : The Bancroft Company. 1894.

Part XII. of the Bancroft Book of the Fair
concludes the chapter relating to the depart-
ment of horticulture and forestry, and begins
the description of the department of mines,
mining, and metallurgy. The pictures are ex-
ceedingly fine and interesting, equal in all re-
spects to expensive photographs, while the
letterpress is satisfactory. The full-page pic-
tures in this number include a view across the
South canal, the administration plaza, a bird's-
eye view of the exposition, the minine building,
north front, and a general view of the depart-
ment of mining.

The American Annual of Photography and Photo-
graphic Times Almanac por 1895. 43^ pp. Paper, 50
cents. New York : Scovill & Adams Co. 1894.

The latest achievements in photography are
described and illustrated in this standard annual,
the appearance of which is looked forward to
from year to year by all photographers. The
publishers say that the book now has reached a
sale of more than 20,000 copies. Besides valu-
able calendars, formulas, tables, etc., and up-to-
date articles describing interesting photographic
experiments, the volume has more than eighty
fine illustrations, many of them full-page pic-
tures. Every photographer will want to nave a
copy.

BOOKS RECEIVED.

[ AU books sent to the editor of The Writer will be ac-
knowledged under this heading. They will receive such further
notice as may be warranted by their importance to readers of
the magazine.]

How Thankful was Bewitched. By James K. Hosmer.
a99 pp. Paper, 50 cents. New York : G. P. Putnam's
Sons. 1894.

Saint and Sinner. By Fanny May. ai6 pp. Paper, 50
cenu. New York : J. S. Ogilvie Publishing Co. 1894.

From Heaven to New York. By Isaac George Reed, Jr.
114 pp. Paper, 50 cents. New York: Optimus Printing
Co. 1894.

HELPFUL HINTS AND SUGGESTIONS.

a book which was at my disposal only for a very
limited time. It occurred to me that I might save
time and ensure accuracy by doing the copying
required with my camera. Setting up the book
before the camera and focussing so that the
image on the ground glass was somewhat re-
duced, I found that I could get two pages of an
octavo volume on a 5x8 plate and still have
the print completely legible. In only a part
of the short time at my disposal I made all
the plates I wanted, developing them afterward
at my leisure. Bromide prints from them made
perfect copy for the compositor. For copying
music, diagrams, pictures, letterpress in foreign
languages, shorthand notes, or technical prints
of any kind, the camera is far more useful than
the pen. What I want now is some kind of
paper that can be printed on directly through
the lens, to save the necessity of developing a
plate and printing from it afterward. It does not
matter if the copy is a negative and not a posi-
tive. For the purposes of the compositor it can
be made a positive by setting it up reversed
against the light. If any reader of The
Writer can suggest such a paper, I shall be
glad to hear from him. a. f.

Boston, Mass.

Clipping with a Pin. — An editorial friend
showed me recently that it is about as easy to
get a clipping from a newspaper with a pin as it
is with a pair of shears, — especially if the
pin is at hand and the shears are not. He
scratched a line with a pin around a paragraph
in a newspaper as he walked along the street,
and in a moment more had torn it neatly out,
with the edges almost as straight as I could
have made them with my shears. t. o. p.

Chicago, 111.

LITERARY ARTICLES IN PERIODICALS.

[The publisher of Thk Writes will send to any addreas a
copy of any magazine mentioned in the following reference list
on receipt of the amount given in parenthesis following the name
— the amount being in each case the price of the periodical,
wUk tkrtt c*nt* p^ttagt added. Unless a price is given, the
periodical must be ordered from the publication oflice. Readers
who send to the publishers of the periodicals indexed for oopiee
containing the artidea mentioned in the list will confer a faTOr
if they will mention Thb Writbk idien they write.]

Photography in Copsring. — Not long ago I
had occasion to copy a number of pages of

Guy db Maupassant. Count Leo N. Tolstoi. Arenm
( 53 c ) for December.

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